


No Man's Puppet

by NinaWhite



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-31
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-07 02:17:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/743008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinaWhite/pseuds/NinaWhite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After finally waking up to the reality of what he has done, Loki sets out to right his wrongs. Redemption was never his strong point however and with shards of the tesseract still trying to  claw control from him, the road will not be an easy one.With his sanity resting on a knifes edge, he turns to the Avengers in the hopes that they will at least be able to put him down if he falls.</p>
<p>Previously posted on ff.net under the same title.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No Common Thief

Chapter One: No Common Thief

Odin couldn't see him. That was never a good sign. If Loki ever slipped from his sight it was to cause mischief. At least that had been the case before he had discovered his true parentage. Now however it signalled something far worse. He shuddered to think what his wayward son was doing. It wasn't worth raising the alarm. Loki was as good as gone. He only hoped that the guards had been left alive.

When he had found out that his son was still alive he had wept with joy, despite the price that Earth had paid. What cared he for a few thousand short lived creatures when it was his son that was paying the true price. Chained and bound Loki had returned to him, showing signs of torture the likes of which Odin had never seen. Shards of the tesseract spinning through his mind, filling him with rage and violence and a lust for vengeance that had the power to shake worlds mightier even than Asgard. He had paced in his cell like a rabid animal, speaking only to hurl vile and graphic threats.

He had thought that the treatment he had been given was working until now. The threats had become less heartfelt, turning into near formalities with neither the flourish or the fervour he had once put into them. "I'll tear your heart out and feed to you as your weeping wife watches," became "I'll snap your neck." Focussed rage became trembling, inept anger at something that couldn't be seen and that he wouldn't speak of. The pacing became worse the more his eyes cleared. He took to lashing out at the very walls of his cell.

What Odin had thought was the real breakthrough came the day they finally managed to destroy that cursed sceptre. He had heard Loki's shriek of agony from the other side of the palace. He had ran to his son's side only to find him on his knees gripping his bowed head. "What did you do?" he had gasped, blood running from his eyes, nose and mouth. Then a look of absolute horror took over his face. "What have I done?" he added in a small near whisper. He hadn't spoken for a month after that.

Perhaps he had gotten his hopes too high. Whatever Loki was doing now was surely nothing good.

The ground beneath him shook as he became aware of the armoury. A flash of fire, metal shards flying everywhere. Loki stepping over the wreckage of the Destroyer, an expression of calm consideration on his face for the first time since he had arrived home. He sneered at the tesseract as he passed it in favour of the Casket of Ancient Winters. He gave a slight smile, the sort he always thought secret, the sort he gave when he thought he had gotten away with something. Then he waved his hand over the weapon, disappearing it into whatever void he kept things in.

Loki's smile widened in a way that was not entirely pleasant and he gave his head a small shake before turning on his heel.

And in that one motion he was no longer in the armoury. He was stood right in front of Odin, hands clasped behind his back and head tilted a little to the right. "Hello father," he said, his voice measured and not without the smallest taint of malice.

"Loki," Odin replied, sadness weighing heavily in his chest. He couldn't do this. He couldn't fight his own son when there was only his own life at stake. He just couldn't. "Do you intend to try and kill me?" A short not quite laugh escaped him and he looked away for a mere moment.

"Hardly. I need the sceptre." Odin frowned. Surely he wasn't still after that abomination?

"It's been destroyed," he told the young man. Loki twitched slightly, then gave another small laugh, taking a single step forward.

"Not that sceptre," he replied, his greenish blue eyes lingering on the long golden staff he had been using as a walking stick. Something inside him froze at the tone his son was using, and he knew that Loki wouldn't take no for an answer. "Do not worry, I will return it to you once it has served my purpose."

"And why would you have need of it?" At that, the smile fell from Loki's face and a faraway look took his eyes.

"I have a lot of red in my ledger, I mean to erase it."

A blast of cold the likes of which he had not felt since the war hit him in the back. Ice crept around his body, freezing him in place as the image of Loki in front of him flickered out of existence. He strained against the ice, but couldn't move as Loki, the real Loki, stepped out from behind him. The blue fading from his skin and the red from his eyes. A wave of his son's hand and he felt the sceptre vanish from his grip.

"I am truly sorry," Loki said, not meeting his eyes until the words were already out and for the first time in so many centuries, Odin believed him without hesitation. "Guards! Your King has need of you!" he called out, taking a single step away, but a single step was enough to put him well out of reach and out of sight.


	2. Apologies

A lot of strange things had been happening in New York over the past few weeks. It had started small. Almost unnoticeable. Windows that had been shattered for months suddenly being whole again. No big deal. Maybe the owner of the little shop had finally received their insurance pay out and gotten it replaced. Then the broken news-stands had been repaired. No, not just repaired, out right replaced. There was no way in hell that they had been repaired when they looked brand spanking new. Next the fallen street lamps had been back how they should be and the pavements themselves were without even the tiniest crack. Better than they had been before the attack.

That was when Tony had started to get suspicious. For months the clean up work had been a slow agonising trawl as everyone tried to dodge responsibility and paying out to fix the mess. Why was it now suddenly all going smoothly? But it was when the huge rotting carcasses of the weird whale ships just suddenly disappeared over night that he set up some serious surveillance over New York. He didn't catch whatever happened to fix the power and waterlines that ran throughout the city, but he did see what happened to one of the many condemned buildings.

"Sir," JARVIS said, his voice a dull drawl. "Something odd is happening in view of camera thirty eight." Tony looked up from what he was tinkering with in his workshop.

"Throw it up on the screen," he said, wiping his hands on his jeans. The footage was crisp and clear but it was dark out there. He glanced to his watch, hiding his surprise when he saw it was just past 2am. At first the building itself caught his eye. He wasn't sure where it was, but it was one of the old ones. Made mostly of grey stone with lots of embellishment. And it was pulsing. Like a heartbeat. "What the fuck?" he muttered. With each beat more cracks closed, more stone seemed to grow. The process was slow and looked almost painful. Like a wound healing.

Then something else caught his eye. Someone standing at the bottom of the building and a strange golden flicker. "Zoom in on the guy on the street," he said, only noticing then that the street was deserted with the exception of that lone person. The image shifted, the image losing a little quality as it zoomed in. Not quite grainy, but certainly not as clear as it could be.

Tony narrowed his eyes at the figure. Even from the back they were recognisable. It was the shoulder length black hair and armour. Loki wasn't exactly the subtle sort. Though he had left the horny helmet at home. His hands were pressed against the stone of the building, gold flashing out of them like lightning but in the shape of veins sinking into the stone. His shoulders shook slightly, as though he was putting a lot of effort into whatever the hell he was doing.

There were so many things wrong with this scene. The first being why the fuck was Loki on Earth when he was meant to be locked up on Asgard?! Seriously, if he had escaped, some warning might have been nice. If this was some sort of punishment, then they still should've let at least S.H.I.E.L.D. know that he was here and what he was capable of.

The second thing was what he was doing. Why was he fixing the building? And how? Tony Stark was never one to simply let "magic" be an explanation for anything. There had to be something more tangible than just a wave of a hand. Though if this was just the most recent of Loki's actions, it would explain how things had been changing so quickly. With everything he had seen he couldn't just dismiss what he was seeing, but the why was tumbling around his brain just as much as the how.

The God of Mischief dropped to his knees about as gracefully as a rock dropping to the ground. Even from the back it was easy to see that he was panting, one hand on the pavement to prevent himself from falling to the side. He stayed there for a few moments as Tony considered waking Thor the fuck up and demanding an explanation, then Loki froze and Tony felt his stomach twist. Oh this wasn't good. This was about as far away from good as it got. Loki, looked over his shoulder, his eyes looking straight into the camera and a smile on his face that was almost feral.

This time his movements were the pinnacle of grace and elegance as he rose to his feet, every trace of fatigue gone as he straightened up and turned to face the camera. The smile was smaller now, lopsided, less threatening and more resigned as he shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. Then he leaned back and just disappeared. Blinked out of existence as if he had never been there.

"Sir," Jarvis said, interrupting his train of though. And was it just him or did the AI sound worried. "It seems you have a guest. Should I alert the rest of the Avengers?"

"Oh that won't be necessary," said an all too familiar voice from behind him. Tony lost some serious cool points when he swore and span around to face the Norse God. Tripping over some half assembled pity project and falling back against the wall, hitting his head on the screen he had been watching and struggling to stand up straight and reclaim the little dignity that he could. All while Loki watched, leaning against his work bench with amusement glittering in his eyes. "Are you quite finished?" he asked smoothly as Tony stared at him. He looked exactly as he had on the day of the invasion. Pale, tall and smug. His dark hair swept back and his black and green armour in pristine condition. The eyes though, they looked a little different. They had a tint of green to them that he hadn't noticed before and looked a little less, well, unhinged.

"Sir, my scanners are picking up at least two dozen hidden blades as well some peculiar heat readings." Loki looked up to the ceiling as though looking for someone, yet still utterly unconcerned. Not that Tony could blame him. He was pretty sure the guy could snap him in half with all the effort it took him to snap a twig and it wasn't as though any of his suits were easily accessible.

"It's as unarmed as I get," Loki responded. "Consider it a gesture of good will." Then his eyes flicked back to Tony. "Your construct is rather well made."

"Er, thanks," Tony replied, wondering what the hell was going on. "So, you make it a habit to drop in on people without warning?" he asked, the shock wearing off but the memory of a strong cold hand around his throat wouldn't leave.

"You were watching me," Loki replied with a shrug as though that had been invitation enough, his smile widening a little.

"I wanted to know who was fixing things."

"And now you do." Loki pushed away from the workbench and took a step towards him. It took all of Tony's will not try and step away.

"Why?" the inventor asked with a frown. Loki glanced away from him, eyes flitting around the workshop but not really seeing it.

"I am not Thor," he replied. His voice was measured but contained no small amount of resentment. "I do not expect others to clean up my mess."

"And you think fixing a few buildings and clearing a couple of roads is enough?" Tony snapped, anger suddenly overwhelming the little sense of self preservation he had.

"No," the God's answer was immediate if infuriatingly casual. "But I think it a start. Would you rather I do nothing?"

"I thought you were meant to be locked up in Azkaban?" Tony replied, not even wanting to think about the real answer to Loki's question. The God frowned in confusion.

"Don't you mean Asgard?"

"You know, I'll forgive you for not getting the joke since you haven't spent much time on Earth. The real point is, why aren't you locked up?" A sigh escaped the God and his shoulders slumped as he looked away.

"I grew bored of waiting to be told that I had recovered. I find myself ill suited to confinement."

"You really expect me to believe that?" Tony snapped as Loki reached out to poke at something. Then he noticed what he was going to touch and leapt forward to grab at Gods hand, his heart going into over drive for the second time in less than five minutes, crying out, "Don't touch that!"

Loki allowed himself to be stopped, his eyes slowly drifted down to the hand around his wrist with an unimpressed expression, before looking to Tony's face. "Why not?" he asked, arcing an eyebrow. It was a look that told Tony he had better have a damn good reason if he didn't want to get thrown out of another window.

"Because it's about as stable as Lindsey Lohan on a bad night!"

"What?"

"It might blow up," he deadpanned. This was worse than talking to Capsicle. A look of realisation crossed Loki's face and he took a step back, taking his hand away from Tony without any visible effort.

"Ah, my apologies. I am not yet accustomed to this Midgardian form of sorcery." The God eyed the half put together not quite discarded machinery with mild distrust before stepping a little further away. "On that note, there is something else I have been meaning to do while here." That was it. He was going to die. Loki was going blast him with a spell, or stab him or reach over and snap his neck or-

He was going to drop gracefully down onto his knees, resting his forearms on his thighs with his palms up and bow his head. What the flying fuck?

"I have wronged you Antony Stark, Man of Iron," he started, his voice bordering on humble. Seriously, had Tony stepped into some alternate universe. He stood stock still, eyes wide like a deer in the headlights and staring at the top of Loki's head waiting for the punch line. This had to be some sort of twisted joke. "While I was not in my right mind, I still went out of my way to make my assault against you personal. I used your tower as the staging for the invasion for no other reason than to anger you and I threw you out of your own window. I owe you a great debt and offer you my apologies and an oath that I will repay you for these slights."

Tony kept staring at the kneeling God. Loki didn't move, at least not at first. This seriously was not the way he had expected his evening to go. Of all the things he had expect to ever happen in his life receiving two apologies from Loki in almost as many minutes was not one of them. Hell, getting one out of the guy didn't seem to be even remotely possible.

The longer Loki stayed as he was, the more Tony began to feel uncomfortable. The silence stretched on and on and he started to get the impression that he was meant to do something. What it was he had no idea. The memory of freefall, of his back hitting hard glass and not stopping, of a painful grip on his throat. All of it came at once and Tony had no idea if he risked something worse by reacting in the wrong way. He only realised how long he must have been staring when Loki shifted, tilting his head a little so that he could look up to the engineer without raising his head.

Tony swallowed, then took a deep breath. "Erm, okay, that's er, good I guess," he said, holding his hand out in an offer to help the God up. Loki blinked at the gesture, the faintest shimmer of disappointment crossed his features before he schooled himself into indifference and stood up without any help, leaving Tony to awkwardly withdraw his hand. He had the horrible feeling that he had just royally messed that up, but Loki wasn't trying to kill him, so he counted that as a win.

The God turned away, either really inspecting more of his workshop or merely pretending to so he could avoid looking at him. "While I am here I may as well warn you," the God said, his voice oddly casual, as though whatever the hell had just happened had been a figment of his imagination. "Something by far worse than me is on its way to your sorely unprepared planet. I am doing all I can to delay him, but the fragments he used to control me are still in place. If when he arrives I fall to him again, do make sure that someone kills me before I do even more damage. I detest being made to dance to another's song."

Before Tony could even think to respond, Loki took a single small step forward and with a slight golden shimmer he disappeared before his foot even hit the floor.

"JARVIS? That did just happen right? Loki was really here. I wasn't hallucinating from the fumes coming off the prototype was I?"

"No sir, you were not hallucinating. Would you like me to alert the other Avengers now?" came his AI's response.

"No, not really any point now. It'll keep until morning." He let out a shaky breath, running his trembling hands through his hair. "I need a drink."


	3. Who Said New York Was Dull?

“Are you seriously telling me,” Fury began, his hand already covering his face as sat slumped in the chair at the head of the table, the rest of the Avengers taking up the rest of the table and Tony remaining standing beside the screen. “That Loki, the guy who brought an alien army to New York, the psycho that tore out a guys eye-”

“Watch your tongue when you speak of my brother,” Thor interrupted. Tony couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that. Natasha turned away slightly to hide her own exasperation, Clint sank down his chair, Bruce bit his lip and Cap’s hand went to forehead. Fury just ignored him.

“The guy that brainwashed three of our best employees and tried to bring down _my damn hellicarrier_ ,” because they all knew that was the bit that really got Fury’s back up. “Is the reason we’ve been getting reports of things just spontaneously being fixed around New York?” Tony made a show of pretending to think for a second or so before replying.

“Yep. Jarv, why don’t you show them what we found last night?”

“Streaming the video file now sir,” was the swift response and the screen sprung to life beside him.

“Is that building fixing itself?” Clint asked.

“Magic,” Thor said, sounding somewhat confused. “Very difficult magic that few would be able to perform.” The camera zoomed in on the cause of the magic, turning Thor’s confusion in shock. “I did not think my brother had the power for such a thing.”

“Well, at least it takes it out of him,” Cap said quietly as he watched Loki fall over.

“Yeah, but what happens next isn’t much of a comfort,” Tony replied, still not entirely sure how he felt about last night.

“Did he just sense that damn camera?” Clint asked, not managing to keep the horror from his voice as Loki seemed to look straight at them.

“Father said that he was developing the Sight,” Thor said, as if that explained anything. Then his jaw dropped as Loki blinked out of existence. “That is not something he should be able to do. Even the Allfather cannot simply disappear like that.”

“Want to see where he popped up again?” Tony said with false brightness. “Cue up the next one Jarv.”

“Certainly sir.”

“Are you shitting me?” Clint cried out as Loki shimmered into existence behind the Tony on the screen, casually leaning back against his cluttered work bench. “This guy can just pop up where ever the fuck he wants?”

“It hasn’t got to the good bit yet. I’m still not convinced half of this was real.”

“There’s something better than you screaming like a girl and falling over your own junk?” Natasha asked, eyes on the screen.

“What are you calling junk?” he snapped with a glare as he half heard himself ask why Loki was there. Thor’s face fell at his adoptive brother’s unprovoked jibe and Tony hoped he wouldn’t be doing the kicked puppy thing for too long this time.

“I got that one,” Steve said with almost childish glee at Tony’s Harry Potter joke, then not long after that, “Who’s Lindsey Lohan?”

“Be thankful you don’t know,” Tony muttered before going on to say, “now this is the bit that blew my mind.”

He watched as Loki lowered himself onto his knees and gave his apology. It still wasn’t quite enough to convince him hadn’t just imagined the whole thing. From the little he knew about Loki he hadn’t pegged him as the sort to say sorry even if was in the wrong and from the truly hilarious look on Thor’s face he guessed that his estimations had been right.

“I have only ever seen my brother formally apologise twice before this, and one of the those was to take the blame for something that I had caused.” The disbelief on the Thunder Gods face twisted into something far less comfortable and he flinched as the digital Tony offered his hand to Loki. “I take it this is not something you do here?”

“Let me guess, I screwed up.”

“I’ll explain the custom to you another time my friend. For now it is enough to say that he will consider his apology rejected,” Thor said, his eyes never leaving the screen, his expression still slightly disbelieving as Loki got to his feet and began to speak again.

" _Something by far worse than me is on its way to your sorely unprepared planet. I am doing all I can to delay him, but the fragments he used to control me are still in place. If when he arrives I fall to him again, do make sure that someone kills me before I do even more damage. I detest being made to dance to another's song._ "

The clip finished and the screen went blank again, leaving the room in almost painful silence as the chaos Gods words sank in.

“Worse than Loki,” Nick said with a sigh, leaning forward and putting his elbows on the table so that he could brace his head in his hands.

“Did Loki just say he was being controlled?” Natasha asked, gesturing at the screen.

“It definitely sounded like that,” Bruce chimed in, biting on his thumb nail.

“He was,” Thor cut it, not meeting anyone’s eye. “When I took him home he was examined. He bore signs of being tortured. Weeks old wounds that had not healed in the right way and there were seven tiny shards of the tesseract lodged in his mind.”

“Wait, there were bits of an alien weapon stuck in his brain?” Clint asked, sounding horrified. Then at Thor’s grim nod, he added, “suddenly a tap on the chest doesn’t seem so bad.”

“When my brother fell into the abyss he was already fragile of mind. The Allfather believes that the torture was to worsen this, to make controlling him easier. The sceptre he was wielding also played some part in it, though I do not understand that as well as perhaps I should. Magic has always been more his domain. We thought him near well again once the foul thing was destroyed. But,” he trailed off, rising from his seat and looking away from them all.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“He escaped,” the Director filled in, his single eye glaring at the God of Thunder as Loki stumbled into the side of a building on the busy street, his head spinning from the double vision and his ears feeling as though they were about to pop from the strain of hearing two different places at once. He tried shutting his eyes for a moment, but that didn’t really help much. Damn, unpredictable, difficult to control, useless-

“And stole two of Asgards most powerful weapons in the process,” Thor added awkwardly after clearing his throat and artfully avoiding the gaze of everyone there. Oh, so they were talking about him. Perhaps the Sight wasn’t quite so useless after all. Starks hand covered his face and the Director shot to his feet, hands slamming down on the table.

“And you didn’t tell us this sooner why?!” he yelled. Thor shifted his weight from to foot to foot like a scolded child, then reached up to scratch at the back of his neck.

“Odin forbade me from telling any human of it unless it became an issue.” Another pause, another shift. “Our father believes that Loki may going after whoever forced his hand and seeking to repair what he has done.” The thunder God even had the audacity to brighten, if not outright smile before continuing and Loki couldn’t help but feel a swell of anger at the damn fool. “And he has been. Why else would he have been repairing the city?”

“Oh I don’t know,” Fury replied, a vein standing out on his neck and using a somewhat mocking tone of voice. “Maybe to lull us into a false sense of security?”

A blaring siren rushing past him with brightly flashing red and blue lights snapped his senses back to his body so sharply that his hold on the wall fell and he stumbled even further, shaking his head to try and clear it. Shame, the conversation had just been getting interesting even if the shift of perception had been something of a shock.

Still blinking from the after effects of a power he was not yet accustomed to, he watched the flock of flashing vehicles speed down the road and then around the corner. What did that terrible noise mean again?

Oh yes, those cars belongs to the keepers of law and order in this place. And if there were that many of them all speeding to one place then something big must be happening. Sighing, Loki pinched the bridge of his nose. _So much for taking an hour off_ , he thought as he stepped into the nearest alleyway, transforming his suit into his hunting leathers with barely a thought and ignoring the slight golden flicker. His attention was better left to other things.

The network of runes he had sewn throughout the city for a start. Each one flickered like a candle in his mind as the cars he wished to track triggered them, letting him follow with ease. He felt them come to a stop relatively close and teleported after a moments wait to make sure they hadn’t simply stopped for the lights.

He reformed in the street, far enough away that no one would notice him but still close enough that he could easily see what was going on. The guards were already shepherding people away from the large treasury like building. What was it called again? A bank? “Excuse me sir,” one of those police people said as he began to walk towards the building. He bit back his irritation as they even put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, forcing himself to remember that he was here to fix things and that snapping someone’s wrist was most definitely not helping. “You really shouldn’t get any closer. We’re cordoning off the area for public safety.” Forcing a charming smile, he turned his eyes to her. She was pretty enough but the uniform did her no favours.

“Do forgive me officer,” he said, gently taking her hand from his shoulder and pressing his lips against her knuckles. She blinked in surprise, her cheeks flushing red. “I was merely passing through. Could I trouble you for an explanation of what’s happening? My sister works in this,” he glanced to building, hoping he had picked up the right term for the place. “Bank, and I fear for her safety.” He slowly slipped his fingers down hers to let go of her hand.

“Erm,” she murmured like a flustered virgin before clearing her throat and pulling her professional demeanour back into place. “I assure we’ll do everything we can to get your sister out safely.” She bit her lip and glanced at the building with a frown.

“Please, tell me what’s happening in there,” he pleaded, leaning in close and making sure to give a nervous looking swallow.

“Okay,” she relented with a guilty sigh. “But don’t tell anyone I told you this. There’s a hold up in there. A few desperate robbers with guns and about twenty hostages. We’re just waiting for a negotiate-”

“Oh is that all?” he interrupted, dropping all pretence of being interested in the mortals existence.

“Wait, what?” she said in startled confused.

“Well, that’s nothing that good old fashioned violence can’t solve,” he explained as though to a small child before abruptly turning away and striding towards the bank.

“Wait, sir, you can’t just-”

“Stay out of my way mortal,” he snapped, spinning back around to face her and not bothering to hide the wildness he knew was in his eyes. It had been far too long since he had torn something apart and the lingering anger from his rejected apology last night was rearing it’s ugly head. “You are in need of a hero, and while I am no hero I assure you I can get the hostages out of that building alive.” He grabbed her wrist, stepping right into her personal space. It barely took a thought to send a spark of magic into her to make her feel compliant and suggestible. “Now do your duty and keep the people of this city at a safe distance.” Her eyes glazed over a little and shook her head as if to clear it.

“Of course sir,” she muttered, sounding a little confused as he released her wrist. “Move back people,” she called out, walking past him. He greatly disliked having to resort to magical manipulation, preferring to use more traditional means of manipulation, but at times even his silvertongue simply wouldn’t do the job.

Finally free of obstacles, he strode purposefully toward the bank, looking forward to finally getting his hands dirty in the considerably more bloody way. And then it happened again. That damn distortion that shook his balance and nearly had him falling over as his perception split and shifted in a nauseating turn. How did Odin and Heimdall control this? Looking out of his own eyes was often confusing enough never mind looking out of some disembodied eyes that were . . . 

That were set into the ceiling of the lobby in the bank and looking down over the cowering hostages and the six men with those annoying gun things. Useful. Very useful, yet still incredibly irritating. He took a shaky step forward, hoping this wasn’t going to interfere too much with what he needed to do. The hostages were on the floor, some of them weeping and shaking, one or two catatonic and one, well, one was standing up.

She was tall and slender, wearing a grey pinstriped skirt suit, all prim and proper except for her trembling form and the tears in her eyes. Her not quite red hair swept into a knot at the base of her skull. “Please don’t do this,” she whimpered as one of the men pointed a gun at her. There was something irritatingly familiar about that woman and Loki was sure he had seen her somewhere before though he simply couldn’t place where. A news paper perhaps?

“Should’ve thought of that before trying to be a hero,” the human pointing the gun at her said. Her expression turned to grim defiance, as though she outright refused to die a whimpering coward. That was when he realised who it was. She was Stark’s woman. And she was about to get shot.

“ _Son of a whore,_ ” he cursed in his mother tongue, teleporting and hoping that he got there in time as the woman threw her hands over her face and the assailant pulled the trigger.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this chapter was a pain to write. I hate writing large groups of people, it's so hard to get it right. Still, fanfiction is a good place for practice.
> 
> Thank you to everyone the hit the kudos button or left a comment ^.^


	4. Ice Latte in Autumn

Peppers heart was going like a jackhammer. She was going to die. She was going to die in a bank because she had just wanted to stretch her legs and she’d been too damn dumb to keep her mouth shut. She tried to face this with bravery. She tried to make Tony proud, but all she saw when she looked at the barrel of that gun was that enormous abomination of a suit that Obadiah had created, the barrel of the gatling gun whirring as it pointed at her.

Her instincts kicked in as she saw the thug move to pull the trigger. She threw her arms up and squeezed her eyes shut as if it would do any good. The crack of the gun shot was deafening and rang out for what seemed like an eternity. She was still breathing. Her heart was still beating so hard and fast that it was a wonder it was still in her chest. She had thought being shot would hurt more. Or maybe the bullet had hit her in the head and killed her instantly, but the only thing that had changed was iron grip at the top of her arms.

An iron grip? Tony?

Pepper forced her eyes open only for them to be met by leather and green with gold trim. Not a glowing blue arc reactor, no red, no metal. Her eyes turned upwards to the face of her saviour. Pale skin and perfectly clean shaven, long dark hair swept back, sharp not quite green eyes and handsomely pointed features. He gave her a small not quite reassuring smile as she stared up at him.

The distant wavering call of “What the fuck?!” rang out as the man who had just saved her life glanced over his shoulder with a shark like grin. Only for his eyes to widen and for him to yank her close and force her to bow her head against his shoulder with a firm hand. A flurry of gun shots filled the air, but this man held her close, shielding her with her own body as though the bullets were rain. She knew she was shaking, trembling like scared child, but who the hell wouldn’t be?

The gun fire came to an end and the stranger loosened his grip on her to half turn towards the bank robbers. “Oh because shooting me worked so well the first time,” he said, his voice filled with derision. Then, looking back to her he added, “Lady Potts, if you could,” while gesturing to ground. She gave a shaky nod and carefully lowered herself to the cold tiles as he took a step towards the thugs who were now hastily reloading their guns., Clips and bullets and shot gun shells fumbling from their shaking hands.

“Who in their right mind would choose to do this in New York? The Avengers headquarters is but two miles in that direction,” the man in leather began, sounding in equal parts annoyed and baffled as he pointed. “And at the moment it houses no less than six of your heroes, one of which is a God. The Fantastic Four, which by the way I find to a singularly stupid name, live a mere mile in that direction.” Again he pointed to clarify, a strange sort of blood lust slowly seeping into his voice as he spoke. “This city also houses Daredevil, Spiderman and more second rate champions than I care to recall. 

“And then there’s me.” The malice overtook any other emotion, twisting his voice into something dangerous and dark. “An exceptionally bored force of chaos.”

Pepper couldn’t take her eyes off of him throughout his little speech. How he’d slowly sauntered towards the robbers with his hand behind his back. How his leather coat didn’t even have a scuff on it from all the bullets. How his every movement seemed calculated and predatory.

His hand flicked out as one of the thugs finally got their gun loaded and levelled at him. The gun slipped around the thugs hands, shimmering and morphing into a snake. He screamed as the serpent sped around his arm and struck repeatedly at his neck.

Peppers saviour moved then. Quick as a flash a knife flying from his hand to strike the furthest robber. A spurt of blood following him to the ground as her hero let loose a maniacal laugh. He dashed forward as another robber opened fire on him. The lunatic ran straight into the gun fire then suddenly he simply wasn’t there anymore. The smallest glimmer of gold and then just gone.

And there was three of him. Laughing manically from behind the group of robbers, face split into a predatory grin. The robbers opened fire on all three of him as Peppers head span from what she was seeing but she couldn’t take her eyes away and only noticed that there were four, not three, as another one dropped down from above them. The leather of his coat flapping as he fell. The robber crumbling like wet card board beneath him as he landed, the other three of him shimmering out of existence as he ran at the next thug.

Oh gods she shouldn’t feel so safe watching someone enjoy violence this much. He was even laughing. Manic, cruel, joyous laughter. At least with Tony she knew he was doing it because he thought it needed doing, but this strange wonderful man seemed to be spilling blood just because it was fun and he had the chance.

It was the grace he killed with, Pepper decided. It stopped it from seeming real. No one should be able to snap someone’s neck like that, disappearing before the body even hit the floor and the rest of the robbers realising where he was or might be. The leather clad hero stabbed the next one in the back while grinning like a Cheshire cat then kicking him away to crumple to the floor twitching and sputtering.

“Don’t kill me!” the last one cried, throwing his gun to the floor and backing off as the stranger stalked towards him. “I give up! I give up!” His hands were up as he pleaded, but the stranger didn’t stop in his advance. The thug started babbling, coherence leaving him the closer the stranger got.

“Wise choice,” the leather clad not quite hero said, almost gently putting his hand to the terrified man’s face. “Sleep.” The moment the word had left his mouth, the thug stiffen and then collapsed to the side.

“It’s safe for you to get to your feet now,” he said, looking over his handy work while easily projecting his voice. Pepper clambered to her feet the moment he spoke, her legs still shaking and her heart still pounding.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Not killing that last one had been more difficult than Loki had anticipated. The manic energy his madness gave him was difficult to pull back from and he had not put himself in such a situation since his escape from Asgard. Every fight he had gotten into had had no bystanders, no innocents to get caught in the cross fire.

Forcing himself to keep breathing slowly and steadily as the hostages and the guards milled behind him, none of them choosing to come close, Loki looked to his hands and wondered if teleporting now would be dangerous. It was a form of magic that need a clear mind. Shifting himself into the shoes of a projected image was easier, but he needed to be able to see what he was doing for that.

Part of him was wishing he had simply left this entire situation alone. He had never had to deal with the aftermath of good deeds before, Thor’s presence had always stolen that from him regardless of which of them had done the work. Should he just walk out and not speak to anyone? He had no desire to bask in the glory of his deeds like his brother always did, but without being able to teleport and with it being so irritatingly light he couldn’t simply disappear.

“Excuse me,” came a steady and pleasant female voice. His eyes darted to the speaker, surprised that any of these weak creatures would approach him after what they had seen him do.

“Lady Potts,” he replied, forcing his surprise down as the woman looked at him with wide eyes, her right hand shaking slightly. “I am glad to see that you are well after all this unpleasant business.” She frowned a little, taking a deep breath and drawing herself up taller.

“How do you know who I am?” she asked. At that, he couldn’t help but give a small lopsided smile.

“I may not be from your realm, but I do make a point of reading the news papers. You aren’t exactly unknown to your people.” A dark blush spread across her cheeks and his smile widened fraction as he realised that she actually didn’t know who he was. “Forgive me, I forget my manners,” he added, giving a small bow that would be suitable for a minor noble on Asgard. As far as he could see, Tony Stark was this worlds equivalent to a baron or a duke and his Lady should be afforded the respect due someone of that station. “I am Loki of Asgard.”

“Pepper Potts,” she replied, holding her hand out with a sheepish smile. He took it and placed a quick and polite kiss on her knuckles only for her flush an even darker red. “Not that you didn’t already know that.”

“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you face to face Lady Potts,” he said before turning to walk away, only for her voice to call after him before he could take a third step.

“Do you like coffee, Loki?” He paused and looked back to her, confusion in his mind and his eyes. “There’s a really nice little cafe around the corner from here. I mean, you just saved my life, the least I could do is get you a coffee or something.” He shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t. But how long had it been since someone had actually chosen to be in his company? Since someone had sought him out just to spend time with him?

“Why not,” he replied with a smile. The Lady Potts gave a sigh of relief, quickly moving to his side. They were nearly at the barrier that the city guard had set up before they were approached and he found out that Stark’s woman was not the meek and nervous thing that he had though her to be.

“We’re going to need to get a statement before you leave,” someone in a uniform said, their voice gentle but trying to be commanding. The Lady Potts span on her heel, standing as tall as she could and looking them straight in the eye.

“Officer,” she began in a deceptively friendly voice. “I understand that you have a job to do, but so do I.” Her hand went into the white leather bag she was carrying only to pull out a small white card and hold it out to the guard. “You can contact me for a statement during my office hours tomorrow, now however I need to get back to running Stark industries.”

“Of course ma’am,” the officer replied, paling a little as if they had only just realised how out of their depth they were, not stopping them as they swept past.

“That was impressive,” he said once they were out of ear shot as he easily kept pace with her.

“Well Tony’s given me plenty of practise at dealing with difficult people,” she replied with a sly smile. Oh Stark truly had caught himself an impressive woman here. Not what he would look for in a consort, but he could admire her skills all the same. And her patience if his early impression of Tony Stark was an accurate one.

The cafe she led him to was small, almost cosy. It was odd to be in such a normal place, surrounded by people that were doing nothing but the mundane. He collected a few odd looks before realising that he was not only still wearing his armour, but that it was lightly speckled with blood. That would certainly explain it.

“What can I get you?” Lady Potts asked, her own eyes on the board that detailed the available drinks. His own gaze found the small list of iced drinks, ignoring the hot ones.

“Just an ice latte please,” he mumbled, suddenly feeling oddly embarrassed and most definitely out of practise at this sort of thing. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“It’s the middle of November and you want an ice latte?” she asked with mirth in her voice as though she hadn’t just watched him kill five people right in front of her. It was oddly comforting to not have her fear him.

“I’ve never been fond of hot drinks,” he replied with obviously fake hurt in his voice. Her smirk turned into a full grin as she sauntered up to the counter. The young woman behind the counter gave him a puzzled glance before taking their order from the Lady Potts and telling them that she would bring it to their table. Loki felt somewhat awkward watching her hand over payment and had to forcefully remind himself that she had offered and that such things were common in this realm.

They found a table by the window and settled into surprisingly comfortable conversation. He avoided giving her straight answers when she asked about what he was doing in the city, but he didn’t get the impression that she was actually fishing for information. Which was rather odd. The shop girl brought them their drinks just as she insisted on being called Pepper rather than Lady Potts and he wasn’t entirely sure what he had said, largely because she had cut him off half way through his sentence, but he had referred to her as Stark’s consort and suddenly she blushing bright red again.

“Oh, me and Tony aren’t, well, not anymore anyway.” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “We’re still close friends though, and I still work for him, but we’re not involved anymore. Not like that.”

“I apologise,” Loki said, surprised at how sincere he was. “I did not intend to pry.”

“It’s fine,” she said, stirring her hot chocolate and not looking at him. “The break up was pretty clean, it was almost a relief to be honest. Things just sort of,” she sighed and tapped the spoon on the white mug before placing it onto saucer. “Fizzled out.” Loki took a sip of his own milky iced coffee rather than reply, not sure what he should say in response. He had gotten the impression from the news papers he had read that Stark and Pepper were all but married.

The tension was broken when music blared out of the Lady Potts bag. She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she searched for whatever was emitting the noise. “I wish I knew how he kept changing the damn ring tone to this Black Sabbeth crap.” He wondered who she was talking about until he noticed that the music was accompanied by singing, the voice clearer once free of the confines of her bag.

_Running as fast as they can  
Iron Man li-_

“Hi Tony,” she said, putting the device to her ear, only to wince and hold it away a little, the voice from the other side so loud that even he could hear every worry drenched word perfectly clearly.

“ _Pep! Oh thank God, you’re okay! I just saw the bank thing on the news. You’re not hurt are you?_ ” She sighed and rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, a soft, tender smile.

“I’m fine Tony, calm down,” she said, making sure her voice was reassuring. “I’m just having a coffee before coming back to the office?”

“ _Back to the office? After what you’ve just been through? I don’t think so, I’m going to come and pick you up._ ” At that, she sighed and rolled her eyes, but there was a fondness to the expression that reminded him of his mother’s reaction when she found out about some of the fool hardy things he and Thor had done. “ _And I’m going to check you from head to toe to make sure you’re actually fine! I am never going to make fun of you for worrying about me again._ ” At that, Pepper actually laughed.

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she replied with a wide smile. “But really, I’m fine. I’m just treating the guy who saved my life to a coffee.” Loki didn’t hear anything from the other end of the conversation after that, though he wasn’t sure if that was because Stark had stopped shouting or if it was because he wasn’t speaking at all. “Oh, okay,” she said, sounding surprised before holding the phone out to him. “Tony wants to talk to you,” she offered as an explanation.

Almost timidly, he took the phone from her. He had seen these things plenty of times, it seemed that almost every mortal to have mastered basic communication owned one, but he had gone out of his way to avoid using one himself. “Hello,” he said trying to keep the uncertainty from his voice as he held the small piece of technology to his ear. There were not enough words to describe how ridiculous he felt doing this.

“ _Reindeer Games!_ ” Stark said, a note of relief to his mostly happy voice. “ _I never thought I’d be glad to talk to you but you have no idea how thankful I am right now. I mean, I’m usually not this easily swayed, but seriously this is Pepper! I would do anything for that woman, seriously, there is no way I’ll be able to-_ ”

“You’re babbling Stark,” Loki said, with a sigh as Pepper looked away with a knowing grin and a slight shake of her head.

“ _Right, sorry._ ” There was a brief pause and Loki could practically feel the other man trying to force his mind to slow down. “ _Okay. So, thanks, for saving Pepper. Also, I had a chat with Thor about that formal apology thing you did and he explained what I was meant to do, and, well-_ ” Another pause, this one slightly more awkward. “ _Let’s just say you can consider yourself punched in the face. Now can you put Pep back on before I embarrass myself even more?_ ”

“Of course,” Loki replied before handing the small device back to the Lady Potts. A strange swell of relief filled his chest at Starks words, the sick feeling that had settled in his gut from what he had thought was a rejection of his apology eased and faded and he had to force himself to not let out a sigh of relief. Instead he took another drink of his ice latte as Pepper spoke.

“You’re not picking me up Tony,” she said to start, leaning back in her chair. Then she rolled her eyes and brought up her free hand and made a gesture that translated well no matter the culture. Yak, yak, yak. Will he ever shut up? Loki let himself grin at that, and Pepper returned with a mischievous smile of her own. “Do you have any idea how rare bank robberies in New York are? That’s not an excuse to check.” She sighed and rolled her eyes again. “You know, it’s really adorable that you’re getting this protective, but I think I can handle a ten minute walk without getting mugged.” She began to drum her fingers on the table and Loki began to feel sorry for her. It seemed that Stark could talk even more than Fandral. “Tony, I’m hanging up now. I’ll be back at the tower in twenty minutes.” And with that she pressed one of the buttons and dropped the phone back into her bag.

“Sorry about that,” she muttered before picking up her cup again.

“There is nothing to be sorry for,” Loki replied, still smiling a little. “He is right to worry for your safety.”

“Don’t tell him that, he’ll be insufferable.” Pepper, bit her lip, her finger tapping against the white ceramic in her hands. “Do you know many people around here?” she asked, almost sounding nervous. Loki blinked in surprise.

“Not really, I have much to do and little time for making friends.”

“Well, I get my lunch break at one during the week days. If you wanted some company you could meet me here.”

“That,” he began, almost choking on his own tongue as his mind worked at a mile a minute to try and work out what sort of ulterior motive she could have for this invitation. “I would be honoured to spend more time in your company,” he said, finally. Not able to come up with anything that could be too harmful. “Though next time, I’m buying.”


	5. Family Matters

Why did Richards have to be out of town now? Doom was his boyfriend, it should be his job to deal with his hissy fit. Instead here Tony was, with the rest of the Avengers, flying around and taking pot shots at DoomBots. Also, on that note, what the hell kind of name for something was DoomBot? Shame on you Victor, _shame_. You were meant to be one of the top five most intelligent men on the face of this damn planet and you name an impressive feat of engineering a fucking Doom Bot.

Secondly, shame on you Victor VonDoom for your crappy and easily blown up design. Seriously, those things were easier to take down than the average tank and dodged about as well as one too. He had a horrible, horrible feeling that this was some sort of trial run for the damn things. At least it had better be for them to suck this much. Tony would be ashamed to send out something like this for anything more than a test to see what needed fixing first.

“ _Stark! For fucks sake, will you quit it with the fucking technobabble!_ ” Clint snapped over the coms. Oops. Apparently some of that had been out loud. He really needed to start paying attention to when he was speaking and when he was thinking.

" _I don’t know,_ ” Cap panted, interrupted by a grunt and the sound of metal clanging against metal. “ _It’s kind of good to know that our inventor is better tha- Is that Loki?_!”

“ _Tell me where Captain,_ ” Thor’s voice boomed. “ _I would see for myself._ ”

“ _Central Park. He’s kind of, well, helping?_ ”

Now this he had to see. He shot off a few missiles and blasted off towards the park, picking off a DoomBot or two on his way. Where the hell were these things coming from anyway? And why wasn’t this classed as Latverian military action against the USA? Seriously, he knew it was basically an ego clash between too painfully intelligent men that refused to do anything useful with that intelligence, but this was just fucking ridiculous.

Trees, trees, grass, lasers, grass, wait, too far. He circled back, staying high and scanning the fight. Loki was outnumbered and melee fighting with robots that had enough punch to knock Cap on his ass. And the fucker was winning. The way he moved was almost like a dance, even in his full ridiculous armour, horny helmet and swishy green cape included. Though in action it didn’t look quite as stupid as he had thought it would.

He slammed the end of his staff spear thing into the ground and swung around it to kick one DoomBot into another in a move that even a Vegas stripper would be jealous of. Swinging the tip out of the earth, he split a DoomBot’s metal skull in half in a mess of sparks and wires. Twirling around, he fired a blast of gold at another and ran the closest one through before kicking it off the end of his spear with a manic grin. The God did beautiful work, Tony almost felt guilty for interrupting the dance when he fired his repulsers at the robot that was just about to take a swing at Loki.

The God started laughing as he saw an Avenger land beside him, fighting against a common enemy. It was a cruel, manic laugh. The sort of laugh that only the truly unhinged would let out. It, well, it wasn’t exactly comforting to have at his back while he was fighting, but he certainly couldn’t say Loki wasn’t a damn good fighter. He didn’t see most of it, but the remaining DoomBots went down damn fast. The occasional flash of not quite there gold flickered at the edge of his vision and when they were done wires and shrapnel and circuit boards littered the grass.

“I believe that was the last of them,” Loki said, wandering over to a more intact DoomBot to kick at it, sounding genuinely disappointed. He was breathing heavily, but it didn’t seem to have anything to do with being tired. The manic light was still in his eyes as he glanced up to Tony with something almost like respect. “You fight well, I had not had the opportunity to witness you in battle before.”

“Not so bad yourself Bambi,” he replied with a grin that the God couldn’t see. Loki tilted his head with a raised eyebrow, some of his armour glimmering out of existence along with his staff and cape.

“Bambi?” he asked, sounding more amused than anything else. “It’s an improvement on Reindeer Games and Rock of Ages I suppose.” Clearly Loki had no idea who Bambi actually was. Probably a good thing. Mostly it was good for Tony’s continuing good health. “Do you have something against using someone’s given name?” Tony shrugged, flipping the faceplate up so Loki could see his grin.

“Real names are boring,” he replied flippantly. “So, what got you helping out?” The God of Mischief gave the wreckage another listless kick.

“I spend hours every night rebuilding this city,” he replied with an annoyed sigh. “Patience is not exactly a quality I am known for and the menial repair already bores me without having to do it over and over again.” His eyes flicked to the sky and a look of irritation crossed his features before being crushed down by a beguiling smile.

“And that is my cue to take my leave,” he said with a bow and the return of his manic grin. “It was an honour to fight at your side Man of Iron.” And with that, he turned on his heel and began to purposefully stride away.

Tony blinked in confusion and was about to ask why he wasn’t teleporting when Thor crash landed into one of the most intact robots, dropped Mjolnir and ran at Loki with a gleeful cry of “Brother!” The God of Mischief had just enough time to turn with a sneer before Thor literally swept him off his feet and into a bone crushing hug, squashing his arms to his side and effectively leaving him no way to fight back.

“Unhand me you thundering oaf!”

“I worried for you brother,” Thor replied with one final squeeze. Loki rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything in response as he was set back on his feet, choosing instead to brush himself off as though he had come into contact with something unpleasant. “It heartens me to see that you are well.” And then the God of Thunder apparently trod on Loki’s last nerve when he clasped the back of the Liesmiths neck.

“Get your hand off of me,” he snarled, batting his brother’s hand away. “Just because I can tolerate fighting alongside you doesn’t mean I am no longer angry with you!”

Oh, this was going to be awkward. At that Thor straightened up, matching Loki’s angry expression. Yeah, really awkward.

“You angry with me? Brother, last time I spoke with you, you tried to stab me with a piece of broken pottery and threatened to mutilate me in ways that do not bare repeating!”

“Well, not holding my madness against me certainly lasted didn’t it-“

“Oh if this is only about things that predate the Tesseract incident then I may as well remind you that you sent the Destroyer after-”

“Sif and the Warriors Three!” Loki interrupted. “That’s who I sent it after, but by the time it got there-” He cut himself off with a ragged breath. “Do you know how long the friends you claimed were ours and not simply yours took to turn on me?”

“Loki-”

“Less than a day!” he snapped before Thor really had a chance to get a look in. “Sif would have struck me in the throne room a mere four hours after the spear had been put in my hands! Seven hours since I had discovered-” Another shaky breath and he looked to his left hand, clenching his long elegant fingers into a first and eyes narrowed as though the appendage had personally insulted him. “My heritage.” At that Thor winced, looking genuinely shamed, though no less angry.

“Guys,” Tony said over the coms, locking Thor out as he did. “Might want to set a decent perimeter around this area. Thor and Loki are having a family moment.”

“ _I thought Loki was a friendly in this fight?_ ” replied Clint.

“He was- is. They’re just arguing right now but it looks like it’s going to get nasty. Probably want to keep the civilians away,” he said to the team, then he cleared his throat as Thor was yelling something with lots of pointing. “Hey guys, are yo-”

“YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!” they both yelled, manic anger filling both of them. That was a family thing then, not just a Loki thing. Fan-fucking-tastic. He raised his hands and took a step in the hopes of placating them slightly. He really didn’t want to have to break up a fight between two Gods.

“I know not what you want of me brother!” Thor again. “What have I done spur on this rage?!”

“ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS NOT GO TO JOTUNHEIM!” Loki all but screeched, somehow managing to loom over his larger sibling as Thor seemed to deflate. The Thunder Gods face fell, going pale as he backed off a step. “If you had just stayed put as the Allfather had commanded then maybe you could’ve convinced me that you would be ready to rule in a few decades rather than centuries!”

“You were testing me brother?!” Thor snapped, the anger flaring back up. A strange shiver Loki’s body and the next thing Tony knew the smaller God was throwing a punch. Thor threw his arm up to deflect, but the hit never made it home. Instead Loki threw his own balance off to swing wide, staggering to the side with a yelp of pain and clutching the left side of his head.

“Brother?” Thor said, taking a step closer and holding his hand out, clearly not really knowing what he was meant to do.

“Stay away Thor!” Loki snarled, his hand still on his head as he unsteadily walked away. “Just leave me be,” he added, his voice quiet and as shaky as his steps.

That was when Tony made a decision, a potentially very stupid and life threatening decision. “JARVIS, let me out of this thing.”

“ _Are you sure that’s wise sir?_ ” the AI ask, a note of concern in his voice.

“I’m sure it’s not, but do it anyway.” The AI didn’t answer, but his suit whirred and opened up, allowing him to step out before it closed itself again. He didn’t bother to take off the small head set, the single blue lens that covered one eye tinting half the world and the data still flowing. “Let me give it a try Point Break,” he said, giving Thor what he hoped was a reassuring pat on the arm on his way past. He strode with a confidence he didn’t really feel. He had seen Loki during that fight, and the argument with his brother, and he wasn’t exactly convinced that Mischief over there was entirely stable.

“Hey, Bambi,” Tony called out, catching up to him with ease and slinging his arm around the Gods shoulders. “You doing okay there?”

“What are you doing Stark?” Loki asked, his body tensing but his voice low and dejected, his hand still on his head.

“A little human custom, we call it showing concer- holy SHIT! Bambi, you’re eye’s bleeding!” Horror spread threw him at the red that was seeping out, already thickly coating the bottom eyelid.

“What?” the God asked, taking the hand from his head without stopping and pressing the heal of his palm against his eye only to draw it back with a confused frown. “So it is.” Tony was having to take long strides to keep up with him while searching his pockets for a tissue or something. His fingers closed around a cotton handkerchief and he passed it over to the bleeding God, holding back a wince when he noticed the small streak of probably motor oil that marked it’s otherwise pristine surface.

“So, what the hell just happened back there?”

“Will you stop following me if I tell you?” Loki said with a sigh, carefully wiping at his bloody eye.

“Maybe.”

“What I wanted to do and what the tesseract wanted me to do were in alignment for once. What you witnessed was the tesseract trying to take control in a moment of weakness and me refusing to allow such a thing.” He stopped walking, shook the handkerchief and handed it back to Tony. The engineer blinked in confusion at the somehow now clean bit of material. Fucking magic.

The God started walking again, his stride long and his steps once again steady. Tony had to walk as fast as he could to keep up with him, it was almost a jog. “You know, for a brief, wonderful moment I thought you might actually leave me be,” Loki said, somewhat wistfully before Tony could even say anything.

“Yeah, not happening,” he replied, doing his best to sound flippant. “I can be a seriously annoying asshole when I give a shit. You sure you’re going to be okay? Need a ride anywhere?”

“Why do you care, Stark?” he snapped. Tony, put his hand on the Gods shoulder, hoping that he’d get the hint and stop since there was no way in hell that Tony was strong enough to make him.

“You don’t get it,” he said as the God stopped, seemingly in order to level a more effective glare at him. A glare that he easily ignored. “You saved _Pepper_. That makes me care. I don’t give a shit about what Fury or the rest of the Avengers think, you saved Pepper when I couldn’t.” Loki’s glare turned to a confused frown.

“You think her life more important than your own?” he asked.

“I think her life is more important than _anyone’s_ life,” Tony corrected. “You’ve been having lunch dates with her for two weeks, you can’t tell me you can’t see why.” Loki shifted uncomfortably as Tony watched him.

“They are not dates,” he corrected almost reluctantly. “She is merely a friend.” Tony grinned. Yeah, Pep was working her magic alright. He had sounded somewhat defensive, almost as though he was preventing Pep’s honour from coming into question.

“Nice to know you’re still on the market,” Tony said before he could stop himself. Oh fuck, what the hell was wrong with him? He had even poured on the charm. Loki blinked in surprise, before his eyes drifted to the hand that Tony still rested on the Gods shoulder. A slow lopsided smile that was pure and wonderful sin bloomed on Loki’s lips as his gaze made its way to Tony’s face and oh fuck apparently he wasn’t the only one that was a compulsive flirt.

“Why Stark,” he all but purred. Seriously, that voice should illegal. “I had no idea I should be guarding my virtue around you.”

“What can I say,” Tony replied, meeting the challenge because he didn’t know what was good for him but he sure as hell wasn’t going to stop first. Now he just needed to not mention the helmet. “It’s the leather, it’s just too hard to resist.” Success!

“Such an honourable hero,” Bambi replied sarcastically. “As much as I would _love_ to continue this delightful discussion my dear, I was already running late when I noticed those detestable contraptions.”

“So how come you’re not teleporting out?” he asked before he could stop himself. Loki sighed, turning his eyes towards the sky.

“My mind must be clear for me to perform such magic’s, and at the moment it is anything but clear.”

“Well, that sucks. So do you want me to call my driver and have him drop you off at that cafe you and Pep like? I can call her and let her know you’re going to be late as well.” The God blinked at him in shock.

“That is a kindness that I would not ask for.”

“Good, I wouldn’t be able to offer if you did,” he replied with as charming a grin as he could manage. “And then how would I look like a proper gentleman?” Then after flicking his head piece to make sure it was still working, he said, “Jarv? Let Happy know that he has someone to pick up and send a message to Pep telling her that Bambi is going to be late.”

“ _Of course sir,_ ” replied the AI. “ _Shall I let her know that you are both well_?”

“Sure, why not. Don’t want to worry her.” And with that, he slung his arm around Loki’s shoulder again and began to guide him away from the battle ground. “Let me walk you to the car,” he said to the stunned and spluttering God. “And don’t try and argue, I _always_ get what I want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait. The scene at the end of this just did not want to be written at all.
> 
> Thanks for the comments and kudos ^.^


	6. Earning A Living

Was there a God of coffee, Pepper wondered as she tapped her foot, waiting for the elevator to arrive. After the morning she had had, she was impatient to get out for her lunch. Her wonderful little daily ritual was tauntingly close. Just an hour of sitting with Loki, eating her lunch, drinking good coffee and bitching about work while Loki complained about how boring his life had apparently become. Then after their mutual bitch fit he would tease her about-

The door to the elevator slid open with a ping.

Her crush on Captain America. Who was stood in the elevator right now and looking at her with an almost boyish and shy smile. All tall and blond and muscular and- _Fuck!_

“Hi Steve,” she said, trying to sound as chipper as she could after doing all that damn paperwork while her heart began to pick up speed.

“Miss Potts,” he replied as she stepped in. “Going down?” _Oh I wish, she thought._

“Right down to the lobby,” she said instead. “And I’ve told you, call me Pepper.” His smile turned self conscious as he ducked his head while looking at her out of the corner of his eye in that adorable way he had.

“Sorry, Pepper,” he said, his cheeks starting to tint pink. “Force of habit.” The part of her that was apparently still a flailing teenage girl squealed with joy at the use of her name and she allowed herself to smile a little more widely before turning her eyes to the slowly decreasing floor number.

“Going anywhere interesting or just out for a walk?” she asked, mostly to fill the silence.

“Oh, erm. I was just going to take a look at an art store that Jarvis told me about.” Art store? Seriously, was this guy even real?

“That sounds nice,” she replied. And it did, a man with a hobby that couldn’t kill him? It sounded like a dream come true. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking awkward for some reason as the floor number dipped into the twenties.

“Erm, Pepper?” he said after clearing his throat, having trouble meeting her eyes. “I was wondering, well, would you like, I mean would you?” His shoulders slumped a little and he let out a sigh before drawing himself up straight again and oh him going into full Captain America mode really should not have been this hot. “I was wondering if you would like to go for dinner or maybe to see a movie on Saturda-”

“Yes,” she said entirely too quickly. Then she realised how that must have sounded and cleared her throat, sweeping a few strands of hair out of her face and added, “I mean, I’ll need to check my schedule, but yes, I would very much like that.” Her heart was beating so far that she thought it might burst out of her chest and a nervous goofy smile had spread across Steve’s face.

“Great,” he said, sounding breathless as the elevator came to a stop and the door slid open.

“I’ll call you when I’ve looked in my diary,” she told him, already knowing that if there was anything she would take a leaf out of her technically still bosses book and blow it off in favour of having a life. They stepped out of the elevator, Pepper only becoming aware of how wide the smile she was wearing was when she noticed the ache in her face. They stole glances at each other like a couple of high school kids on their way through the lobby, Pepper giddy enough to ignore her nerves and steal a quick hug that had Steve turning bright red before they went their separate ways.

Pepper’s pace was quick and bouncy as she made her way to the cafe and she had to force herself not skip so she wouldn’t end up breaking her ankle with the shoes she was wearing. She hadn’t felt this ridiculously happy since she had been in her early twenties.

Still grinning, she pushed the door to the cafe open, sliding past some kid fiddling with their iPod then turned her eyes to the people seated at the tables. Her good mood faded slightly when she didn’t spot Loki. He had only ever been late once and that was because of the incident with the DoomBots a few days ago. He was always here before her so he could grab the table for two by the window before the lunch rush. Except he wasn’t sat at that table.

Instead there was a woman, a book held in one hand with the other resting on her thigh. Her legs were crossed and she was wearing leather trousers with knee high chunky boots and a green silk blouse. Her black hair was swept back, her features pointed and her skin pale. Actually, looking at her she looked a lot like Loki. She could easily pass for his sister. And wasn’t that the book he had been reading yesterday, not to mention that was how Loki always sat and the clothes were definitely something she could see him wearing if the blouse was a shirt instead.

Then they looked up, straight at her, and smiled and God that smile was pure Loki. There was no mistaking it anywhere. “Are you planning on standing there all day my dear?” she asked, her accent and inflection exactly like the God of Mischief’s and even the voice had some similarities. Pepper walked towards her, slightly unsure.

“Loki?” she asked, not sure what answer she wanted.

“Who else would I be?” she replied, the condescension in her tone all the evidence Pepper needed as she watch the hands with their long elegant and familiar yet utterly foreign at the same time fingers folding the edge of the cheap paperbacks page and closing the book.

“Oh I don’t know,” Pepper replied as she set her handbag on the floor by the table and pulled out her chair. “Some random woman I’ve never met before.” Loki blinked in confusion before a look of dawning realisation spread across her (his?) face.

“Oh, had I not told you of my shape shifting?”

“No, you hadn’t,” she replied. Then after a pause she asked, “Why a woman?” Loki gave an elegant shrug.

“I was bored and I could.” Pepper rolled her eyes at that. If the last couple of weeks had taught her anything about the mostly tight lipped God it was boredom was an excuse for almost anything in their eyes. Pepper still felt sorry for the woman who had made a bitchy comment about her shoes and ten minutes later had a hissing snake coiled in her cup instead of a cappuccino. 

“Anyway,” the God (Goddess? Or was God a title?) leaned forward, elbows on the table and fingers twining together as their smile turned slightly sly. “What could possibly have you skipping down the street like a love struck child on the eve of maidenhood?”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Natasha sat down with her coffee, watching the cafe across the street. She was relatively sure that she was sat in a position that would at least partly hide her and the fact that Loki and Pepper weren’t looking for her was an advantage. She had managed to make sure she had a good view of the pair of them. Which was proving interesting if not incredibly educational.

For a start, apparently Loki could shape shift yet for some reason had chosen to only change their sex. Those boobs really could not be missed, even from across the street, but neither could the fact that it was still totally and completely Loki, just a slightly softer feminine version. The body language and perfect poise was absolutely unmistakable.

What was strange was the way the God relaxed in the CEO’s presence. It was a slight and subtle shift, a minuscule drop of one shoulder that had them looking so much more open, but only to the person right in front of them. Natasha took a sip from her coffee and forced herself not to pull a face, wishing she was in the cafe she was watching instead, as Loki leaned forward in an almost conspiratorial manner. Oh God, Pepper and Loki working together, that was a horrifying thought. Natasha doubted there would be a force on Earth that could stop them.

Except apparently this wasn’t working together and Pepper flushed bright red and started talking, obviously rushed and embarrassed but also very happy about something. If only she were close enough to lip read, but that was more Clint’s forte than hers. Still, at least she could see the growing amusement, not just on Loki’s face, but their entire body. Shoulders shaking slightly with repressed laughter before finally just letting it out. Pepper glared and kicked the God under the table but they didn’t even notice. They just kept laughing.

It didn’t look like the laugh she had seen in the footage of the fight with the DoomBots. This just looked like someone laughing at a friend. There was no mania, no madness, just mirth. It was strange, she hadn’t thought Loki could laugh like that.

Pepper kicked them again, really putting her strength behind it and the God finally noticed, clamping a hand over their mouth and leaning down to rub at their leg, their shoulders still shaking. From the look of it, most of their hour together was spent either making fun of each other or complaining about things. All in all they looked like any pair of friends might. Loki even got up to give Pepper a quick hug and place a very formal looking kiss on her knuckles when the CEO got up to leave.

The God of Mischief’s body language closed off the moment Pepper was out the door and they had sat back down. There was a distinct emlook but don’t touch, mortals, vibe that they were giving off as they picked their book back up and started reading again. Right about now Natasha started hoping that Loki would teleport wherever they were off to next or she would’ve wasted more time on this than she cared to think about and would have to put up with Fury’s disappointed look and no one wanted to put up with that.

Two hours. Two hours the bastard just sat there reading, occasionally looking at their watch and stopping twice to buy more coffee. Natasha had long since switched onto diet coke by then, not being able to stomach the appalling coffee after getting used to fancy stuff that Tony bought. He had even taught her to use the barista machine that sat in the communal kitchen.

Finally the God got to their feet, casually disappeared the book and shrugged on the long leather jacket that had been stripped of its armour and draping a cream scarf around their neck before walking out of the cafe. Natasha followed. Loki was easy to trail, not even trying to be stealthy or discrete. Even as a woman Loki was tall. Supermodel tall, though most definitely had too much curve to be another clothes horse.

The God walked as though they owned the city, moving easily through the people that were going about their business. Staying unnoticed was easy until Loki turned down an alley way. That was when she needed to stay far enough behind that if the God turned to look she would be around a corner and keeping her footsteps light.

This was the nerve wracking part. It would be so easy to lose Loki in this maze of alleyways and she still wasn’t familiar enough with the city for this to be easy. Unfortunately it seemed that Loki’s repair work had given them an intimate knowledge of the place.

Each turn he got just a little further away and if he didn’t reach his destination soon she was going to lose him. It was infuriating. The bastard knew he was being followed, she just knew it. This was too much like watching an artist at work for this to just be the way he moved. Then again, according to Thor, Loki was practically the original infiltrator with a few thousand years of practice under their belt.

One more corner and all she saw of the God was a swish of leather disappearing behind brick and Natasha _ran_. Her tread was cat like and silent, but she couldn’t lose him now, not after she had spent the better part of an afternoon tracking him.

She held back a curse as she rounded the corner and Loki was nowhere in sight. How he had even managed to disappear in a long alley Natasha had no idea, though she sure as hell would like to know. She doubted he was hiding behind the pile of trash bags that had been staked against the wall. Maybe he had teleported after all.

The sound of shattering glass and a scream had her looking up just in time to watch in horror as a man fell at high speed towards the floor, the shards of glass surrounding him glittering in the orange light of the setting sun. He collided with the pile of trash and Natasha ran over to him, almost forgetting stealth. She could hear a fight above her but those noises came to an end as she reached the guy.

He was lying upside down on the bags as she reached out and placed her fingers to his throat to check his pulse. She found it easily, but the guy, scruffily dressed and weary faced, didn’t stir. Not dead then, just out cold. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing considering why Fury wanted her to tail Loki in the first place.

Her eyes turned upwards, first spotting the fire escape on the outside of the building and then the broken window six floors up. Well, at least she knew how to get in.

* * * * * * * * * 

Loki ignored the four thugs tied together with a chain that used to be a hideous rug that had deserved to be transformed, focusing instead on counting their ill gained coin. The copious amount of drugs that were in the squalid apartment he would leave for the city guards.

A smirk tilted Loki’s lips and they turned to face the window. “I was wondering when you’d come to join me,” she said, not even trying to keep the amusement out of her voice as the Black Widow stood, feet apart and arms crossed exactly as they had been on the hellicarrier. “Your dedication is impressive. I don’t think I could have managed nearly four hours in that dreadful cafe when there was a far superior establishment just across the street.” Her eyes narrowed by the tiniest fraction and Loki had to actively put effort into not laughing.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice flat and impassive and deadly. It was adorable, really.

“Earning a living my Lady Romanov,” she said, using the handful notes to gesture. “Even a God needs to eat. Well, that and I do so enjoy irritating the King Pin.” The only change was the slightest tilt of her head. Oh this could be fun. Was the Widow really trying to do this again while Loki had a perfectly clear mind? It would be interesting to see how they really matched up. She may not have had centuries of practise, but she was certainly a natural.

“So it is you that’s been robbing the drug dealers and leaving them for the police.” Again, her tone was flat and body language tightly controlled.

Fear. That was interesting. She was afraid and doing all the wrong things to hide it. Or maybe she was being purposefully misleading in a way she knew another expert would pick up. So she opened up her own body language just the tiniest fraction. Tilted her head a little and adding the tiniest slouch to try and seem smaller, less intimidating. Less dangerous.

With a small sigh and flashier than needed hand wave, Loki tucked away the money with her staff and the casket. “On Asgard their crimes would be by far more harshly punished. Was it Director Fury that sent you?” A single brisk nod, not even enough for someone of her considerable skills to work with. She was good at masking herself and he had already seen her skill at misdirection.

“And what sort of punishment would leading an invasion of another realm get you?” she asked. Oh this one was fun.

“Have you ever heard of the Blood Eagle?” she asked. The smallest quirk of her eyebrow was the only answer she received. Loki made sure her own features were schooled into passiveness. “It’s a method of torture and execution. The ribs are cut beside the spine, then broken so that they resemble blood stained wings, then the lungs are pulled through the wounds in the back and salt is rubbed into the cuts.” She allowed a small rueful smile as the blood drained from Natasha’s face. Some things could not be hidden or controlled, though she did an admirable job of keeping the rest of her stoic. “Fortunately Asgard takes the extenuating circumstances of mind control and coercion very seriously.”

“Sounds like you were almost lucky,” the Black Widow said, her voice a perfect deadpan.

Loki couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing.

“ _Almost lucky,_ ” she manage to gasp as she calmed herself down. “I like that, it could sum up so much of my existence.” She cleared her throat and forced down the remains of amusement, ready to get down to business. “Oh, while you’re here, there is something I’ve been meaning to do.” The assassin’s body tensed by the smallest of fractions, eyes narrowing slightly. More fear. Really, if Loki had wanted to kill her she would have been dead before Pepper had arrived for lunch. Well, might as well get this over and done with one way or the other.

Taking a deep breath to steal herself, Loki lowered herself to her knees and rested her arms on her thighs, palms facing up and head bowed. 

“I have wronged you Natasha Romanov, Black Window.” She made her tone carefully humble yet formal, this sort of apology had to be done right. Had to be perfect, even if it was rejected or if his idiot brother had only told Stark how to properly accept. “I threatened you in a manner unbecoming someone of my station. It was a personal insult that I should not have issued. I have wronged you and I offer my apologies and a gift should you accept it in order to repay this slight.” Silence followed, like it always did. Loki swallowed as memories of a needle fought to take over. The wait had been long then. Not as long as he’d waited for Stark, but still long enough to let her know that it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

Then the silence is filled with a low hum and the crackle of electricity and oh this was not going to be pleasant.

The punch was pathetic by the standards Loki was used to. She had encountered children that hit harder. Asgardian children, but still children. She lets her head whip to the side anyway so she doesn’t break the assassins hand. It’ not the punch that hurts. It’s the bite of electricity. It ripples through her like venom. It doesn’t last long, but that’s a virtue of not being human. Their weapons rarely did anything substantial to someone like Loki.

Rubbing the side of her face, Loki looks up to Natasha with a wry smile, one the spy even returns while holding out her hand. Loki clasps the humans forearm while rising, but doesn’t use the assistance to get up. She even catches sight of the strange weapon clasped onto her wrist, mostly hidden by the sleeve of her jacket.

“I must say, I’m surprised you accepted.” The spy shrugged in response.

“I’ve been where you’ve been,” she says, not meeting his eyes and it’s obvious that the game is over. It’s also obvious that she doesn’t quite mean the Chitari. There is still a tightness to her body language, of control that she doesn’t know how to let go of and perhaps that’s what the fear really was. “I was there for longer, though maybe it wasn’t quite as bad. But I get it. I know what it is to have to pull the trigger or die. And I know what having red in your ledger is like.” Something twisted almost painfully in her chest and her smile turned a little sad.

“You do, don’t you,” she replied with a small sigh. She didn’t allow it to linger long though. “Enough of this, I promised you a gift.” Natasha cocked her head in question as Loki easily pulled out a box a couple of inches longer than the other woman’s forearms and a little wider. She held it out to the assassin who took it without even a moment’s hesitation. It took effort to not raise an eyebrow at that. The red head opened it with care, her eyes widening at the sight.

Loki knew what was in there. She had spent long enough crafting them. A pair of vambrace, black and none reflective with her symbol in a pleasing shade of red on the part that covered the back of her hands.

“They’re beautiful,” she said, the words coming out as a breath and filled with awe.

“They’re deadly,” Loki amended. “There are instructions on how to use them properly in the box as well. If you can’t read my hand writing, get Thor to help. He may be an idiot, but he’s not illiterate. I would also recommend that you don’t use them in the field until you’ve mastered them. They have a lot more power than those little bracelets you’re used to.”

“Thank you,” she said, turning her eyes back to Loki. They were honest, earnest and completely open. No misdirection, no mask. No lies. Just open gratitude.

It was strange to see and even stranger to see it directed at her. Oddly uncomfortable yet gratifying in a way that boarded on torture. Squashing down any body language that might let her discomfort be seen, Loki replied with a casual “You’re welcome,” then teleported away before Natasha could say anything else.

* * * * * * * * * * 

His tongue was sticking out as Jake tried to get onto that fucking platform. “Come on you fucker!” he yelled at the TV, tilting the Xbox controller and leaning to the side as he pressed the jump button frantically.

“A creature of class, as always, I see,” said Loki, appearing on the arm of the couch.

“Shit!” The controller fell from his hands and scrabbled away, clutching at his chest as his heart beat to fast it felt like it was trying to rips itself out of his chest. “Fuck, Lokes, warn a-”

Faster than he could blink, Loki had his hand around his throat and a snarl on his lips. His eyes bulged as the God slowly backed him into the wall.

“Jake, what did I tell you about calling me that?” Loki said, their voice lighter, more feminine as he scrambled for his emergency Loki calmers in his pocket, his throat burning.

“Said you’d strangle-” He coughed. “Throttle me.” His hand closed around the stick and he desperately pulled it out, holding it before him like a crucifix. Loki’s eyes fixed on the lollypop with suspicion, their grip on his throat loosening a little. With an irritate huff of breath, the God let go and quickly snatched the offered sweet.

“It’s insulting that you think me this easily placated,” the God said, sounding slightly sulky as they pulled off the wrapper to the lollypop- and _oh_. That’s what was different.

“Feeling feminine today then.” Loki shot him a half hearted glare and popped the sweet into her mouth, using the stick to spin it around. As if watching that wasn’t bad enough when they were a guy, it came damn close pornographic when they were a chick and the worst part was that they weren’t even aware of it. “You look good by the way. You’re hair’s nice.” Loki slid the lolly out of her mouth and looked at him with scepticism.

“Really, Jake?”

“Wow, you must be feeling like shit if flattery isn’t doing anything.” The God just rolled her eyes and waved her hand, summoning a wad of bank notes into the air and catching them with practised ease before tossing them to him. Jake caught them with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t think you’d be getting around to it that quickly.” Loki shrugged. Then flinched and stumbled.

“How is that useful in any way?!” she snapped, glaring at the floor.

“The sight again?” Jake asked, slipping the money into his pocket. The God nodded.

“I can see the top of a building and the sky. Oh, and a pidgeon.” Loki shook her head then sighed and slumped into the couch. “Wonderful.”

“Do you want a drink or anything while you wait it out?” The God’s only response was to shake their head and start sucking on the lollypop again. Great, there was a grumpy God on his couch. He hated when this happened, which granted wasn’t often, but it always reminded him of when they had first met. “I finished that extra project you asked me to do,” he blurted out before he could stop himself, wincing as he did. Damn side effects, he hated them. He hated them even more when he saw the God freeze, eyes wide but expression painfully blank. Slowly, excruciatingly slowly, Loki took the sweet from her mouth and sighed, squeezing her eyes shut.

“How many?” she asked, refusing to look at him. Oh fuck, Jake really didn’t want to do this. Didn’t want to say it. Loki was a dick to him, yes, but they had damn good reason and they did what no else could for him. They actually fucking _helped_.

“Six thousand eight hundred and forty three.”

“What?” Loki said, sounding almost angry. Not exactly the reaction he was expecting. “That can’t be right. They have to have killed more than that. Over eight million people live in New York City and the chitari couldn’t even kill seven thousand.” The God was on his feet now and fuck a lollypop wouldn’t be enough to snap her out of this one. “I could kill more people than that on my own in an hour! What where they aiming at? The street signs?!” She sighed and dragged a hand over her face. “Do you have their names?” Jake nodded and scrambled over to his desk, pulling out the pen drive. He handed it over as Loki conjured up more money to hand over.

The anger had already faded as the God looked down to the little memory stick in their hand, something more like remorse settling in their eyes. Or perhaps regret, definitely a little sadness.

“I get it, you know,” he said, watching the long elegant fingers close. “I know what that is like.” A long pause and Loki didn’t answer. Jake felt himself fidgeting, shifting his weight. He could practically feel another truth try and claw it’s way up his throat as they stood. “I’ve started noticing blonds again,” slipped out before he could stop it and Loki’s eyes snapped up to meet his.

“How long?” she asked, her voice measured but tired.

“Just a couple of days,” he replied with a shrug as his stomach churned. He hated this. Hated everything to do with this. Loki gestured for his hand and he complied without even thinking. The God took hold of his wrist, almost gentle, their eyes slipping closed as they focussed.

“You’re not quite ready yet,” Loki told him, her voice flat if not a little tired. “Three or four more days and I’ll renew the spell.” She turned her eyes to his face, something almost like concern there. “Can you last that long?” Jake shrugged.

“Do I have a choice?”

“That depends on if you can control yourself, I don’t want you building up resistance to this too quickly.” Fuck, he hated it when Loki actually let on that she cared. It was so much easier to cope if she was being a dick. “You know what the next step is after this,” she added, her voice verging on soft.

“I think I can. I mean, it’s only a few days.” Loki gave a nod, letting go of his wrist. He watched the God, eyes drifting over her slowly. Her shoulders were slumped, her posture less stiff but no less proud. “You look tired,” he said. More than that, Loki looked like the weight of the world was sat on her shoulders and had started to wear her down. “You want to stay here tonight? Save yourself a trip.” A look of disgust spread across Loki’s face before if falls away with a dramatic and irritated sigh and the God seems to deflate.

“It’s probably for the best. I’ll be gone by morning.” With that, she dropped herself down onto the couch, slumping down yet still somehow managing to look graceful at the same time and closed her eyes. Even crossing her legs at the ankles as she spread them out.

“Mind if I keep playing?” he asked, sitting next to her.

“If I fall asleep now I doubt an invasion could rouse me,” was the tired response he gained. Jake shrugged and picked up his controller. Twenty minutes later he was still stuck on the same bit that he had been before Loki had rudely interrupted and had been swearing for at least ten of those.

“Considering how much time you spend on that contraption,” the God said from his side, one eye open. “You are terrible at these games.”

“If you’re so fucking perfect, why don’t you try?!” he snapped, realising too late who he was talking to and how bad for his health those words could be. Loki let out a quiet chuckle and held her hand out for the controller.

And did it on their first try then handed the controller back with a wry smile and still only one eye open.

“You are an absolute dick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Moving house ate all my time.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the comments and the kudos ^.^ They are, as always, greatly appreciated.


	7. Original Prankster

“Wait,” Tony said, holding up his hands as he interrupted Fury. “I can’t have heard that right.” He continued, the rest of his team looking just as confused as he felt, well, except for Natasha, she was sat cradling a plain white box as though it was the most precious thing on the face of the Earth. “Are you seriously telling me that Loki is not only taking midnight strolls around New York, patching the place up like some weird leather obsessed helper elf.”

 

“Stark,” Thor interrupted, practically growling. Tony’s only reply was a vague hand wave and to carry on as though the God hadn’t said anything.

 

“But he’s also a magical Batman for fun and profit. Mostly profit.”

 

“I do not understand,” Thor said, shunning anger for confusion. “My brother is not a bat.”

 

“Or a man at the moment,” added Natasha, absently running her fingers down the box in a way he had only ever seen her fawn over her knives. Thor actually perked up at that.

 

“Loki has taken on a different form?” Natasha nodded.

 

“He makes a very attractive woman. Much more curve than I would’ve expected.”

 

“This is a good sign. Shape shifting is more difficult for her when her mind is unstable.”

 

“So the gender flip is a common thing then?” Tony asked, one hundred percent sure that he had totally and utterly failed to keep the less than innocent interest out of his voice.

 

“For Loki? Yes. She gets bored with being male or female and changes accordingly. In fact, there is little she doesn’t get bored with,” he added with a slight fond frown.

 

“Well, I’m seeing a whole new world of possibilities.” Damn it! He really needed work on that brain to mouth filter thing.

 

“Stark, do I need to give you the fraternising with supervillians talk?” Fury asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Again?”

 

“In my defence, I don’t know many people that wouldn’t try it with Mystique. Or Electra. Or Lady Deathstrike. Or VonDoom.”

 

“Doom? Seriously?” Banner said, giving him a disapproving look. “I thought your standards were higher than that. Weren’t you just bitching about his tech last week?”

 

“Doesn’t mean he’s not hot under the armour. Besides, now I’ve actually stripped down one of his Doombots –still totally a stupid name by the way- it’s actually pretty impressive. There’s some genuinely interesting stuff that he cram-”

 

“Stark!” Fury snapped, only to be promptly ignored.

 

“I’m with Banner on this one,” Clint said. “You have seriously shitty taste in men.”

 

“Aye, Doom is hardly a man of valour.”

 

“You do realise I was flirting with your brother last time I spoke to him, right?”

 

“That is hardly an achievement,” Thor replied, his voice flat and almost disapproving. “My sister is not one to be shy with her affections.”

 

“You know, I was expecting you to protect his virtue or something,” Tony replied, not sure if he was being snarky or serious. The line was often a thin and blurry one for him. At that Thor outright laughed as Fury muttered something about this being worse than an all girls gossip group.

 

“My sister makes _you_ look like a blushing virgin, Man of Iron. I know you all think me blind when it comes to Loki, but I recognise a lost cause when I see one and my sisters virtue is most definitely long since lost.” Natasha shook her head and got to her feet, wandering over to the window.

 

“Can we please get back on topic? Or do I have to shoot one of you?”

 

“I nominate Barton.”

 

“Fuck you Stark.”

 

“This is why I wish you’d skip out on more debriefings,” Fury muttered under his breath.

 

“I heard that,” Tony said with a wide and somewhat shark like grin. “And I take it as full permission to flake out on meetings when I feel like it. Or when I’m hung over, or distracted, or, well, you get the idea.”

 

“Please do, that way we might get past the first sentence without you asking for clarification and then derailing the debriefing with useless nonsense.”

 

“Sir, do you really want to teach the team that being a pain in the ass gets them out of things?” Steve said with a sigh.

 

Before Tony could give his incredibly witty response a weird looking bird swooped into the room, chirping an obnoxiously happy tune that sounded really fucking familiar. And was making him think of anime for some reason.

 

It was probably a good thing that it came the fuck out of nowhere and no one, by which Tony meant Hawkeye, had their weapons on them. Because the next thing it did was drop a rolled up piece of paper right in front of Fury, still trilling its bouncy little tune that no bird should be able to sing and swooped out of the open window by Natasha.

 

“What. The fuck. Was that?”

 

“Did that hawk have a gold crest and green tail feathers?” asked Bruce as Fury stared at the paper right in front of him.

 

“A bit of green on the wings as well-” Hawkeye started, only to be cut off.

 

“It was Loki,” Thor said with a huge smile.

 

“You are fucking kidding me!” The God of Thunder shook his head.

 

“Not at all, usually when he takes that shape it is much bigger though. And he would not have donned such a shape if he did not wish to be recognised.”

 

“Is that safe?” Fury asks, pointing to the paper with a look that says he would be much happier taking a flamethrower to it than uncurling it.

 

“Don’t be such a baby,” Tony found himself snapping as he reached out for the paper, opened it up and turned it over in his hands as the paper did absolutely nothing interesting. He dropped it down in front of Fury with a raised eyebrow and, glaring at him, their oh so fearless leader picked it up. His single eye wandered over the page, his face far too blank.

 

“What the fuck is this? How the hell is anyone meant to read this mess? I’m not even sure it’s English.” At that, Thor gave a little laugh and held his hand out.

 

“Allow me Director,” he said with a smile. “I am well acquainted with my brothers unkempt script. It’s a habit of sorcerers. If their writing is bad enough it puts others off from reading their journals.” Fury passed the note over and Thor who leaned back in his chair to look at it. “This is actually his best handwriting, he was clearly trying to make it legible.

 

“It says that he wishes to meet with you to discuss how ill mannered it is to send someone out to follow him, he really dislikes that by the way, you’re lucky he seems fond of the Lady Natasha. Before all of this unpleasantness the only thing that could really make him cruel was someone following him that had no right to be. He goes on to say that you may bring as many warriors with you as you please, but he intends no harm, that he will be as unarmed as he gets. There is a time and a place here that seems to be out in the open.”

 

* * * * * * * * * 

 

Tony had never felt foolish going out in the Ironman armour before, even when he really should’ve. So this was a first. He felt like a complete and total prick walking along side the rest of the suited up Avengers to their destination. Thankfully there was no one around to see what was most likely going to be a show of grotesquely unnecessary force. Seriously, Pepper met up with the guy five days a week without so much as a taser. It was embarrassing that Fury couldn’t meet up with him without evacuating an entire block and taking along all of the Avengers as well as a whole unit of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Honestly, it was fucking ridiculous that he had been told to suit up for this. He had been tempted to put on a business suit instead just to be awkward.

 

From the look of it, none of the others were too impressed by what they were doing either. Well, except for Thor. He seemed happy to be out and about. Hawkeye was twitchy and was holding his bow in the wrong hand, probably so his shooting reflexes couldn’t kick in without his say so. Natasha looked bored, Bruce kept cleaning his glasses as though he had some sort of nervous tick and Cap had his cowl down and was clearly unhappy about something. Probably at being trotted out for no good reason. If Loki had wanted to kill Fury, he could’ve teleported himself to the hellicarrier and done it while no one was expecting it.

 

They stopped across the street from the skyscraper that was one of his competitors head office. He couldn’t quite remember which and they hadn’t done the sensible thing and stuck their logo on the side. Actually, hadn’t that building been heavily damaged during the invasion? He could’ve sworn that it hadn’t been fully repaired the last time he’d been through this part of the city. Tony gave a mental shrug as Jarvis scanned the area and assumed that it was one of the places that Loki had fixed up.

 

Fury was barking orders at the agents, something about fanning out, setting up a perimeter. Who cared, there wasn’t any danger! And that was apparently Caps opinion as well since he didn’t so much ask Hawkeye to glance around. Instead he looked at his watch and started tapping his foot impatiently.

 

An hour. A damn hour went by and nothing happened. He was about ready to hang himself just to have something to do. Why they had needed to come so early he had no idea. Well, he did. Making sure there wasn't an ambush, checking for enemy surveillance, blah blah blah, who cared? 

 

Just as he was considering wandering over to Hot Agent number Four, he noticed something. The reading he was getting from the area were fluctuating. Only a little, but enough to show up on his HUD. And then, “Do you guys hear that?” he asked, looking around for the source of the sound. A merry little tune that he couldn't quite make out.

 

“I do,” replied Cap, getting up from the curb he had been sitting on as everyone else shook their heads. “Is that . . . music?” he asked, sounding unsure.

 

“I think so, I can't quite hear it properly though.”

 

“Erm, guys,” Bruce interrupted, his eyes glued to the huge skyscraper. I think Loki might be about to stage a dramatic entrance.”

 

“About time,” Tony grumbled, turning to look at where the other scientist and oh this was going to be a hell of an entrance. The entire side of the building was glowing with thousands of tiny golden lights. Swirling and coalescing to the sound of the near silent music. “Whoa.”

 

The music flared to life, a sugar high happy tone, and the gold lights rushed down the building at near blinding speed. It hit the ground like a wave and rushed towards them, so fast that Tony didn't even have time to kick in his repulsers to avoid it. Though apparently that wouldn't have been needed anyway as it all dived towards Fury. Thors words echoed in the back of his mind as the gold engulfed the Director. _The only thing that could really make him cruel was someone following him._ The music bounced along it merry little tune as the tide of gold turned to pull away from Furry leaving the Director standing, his hands up as though to protect his face, as the mass of gold rushed back to the skyscraper, splashing at its bottom before swirling up its surface in a chaotic whirl.

 

A laugh started to try and claw its way out of Tony's throat as he realised why the music sounded familiar. The lights compressed, their colour changing as they pressed together in a strange mimicry of a screen.

 

And on the screen was a perfect replica of Nick Fury, except it had to be about thirty feet tall. Its arms were up with his wrists on either side of his head , knees together and as close to an adorable pout on its lips as Fury's face was capable of. Then the music kicked in properly, getting into full sway as the holographic Fury started to sway its hips to the bouncy electro beat, head nodding and hands waving like faux bunny ears.

 

And that was it. That was all Tony could stand. Even the knowledge that he would probably get shot for this couldn't stop him. He doubled over and burst out laughing as the fake Fury swished his hips with all the grace and femininity of a go-go dancer, the movement exaggerated by the swing of his coat. The real Fury stood stock still, staring straight at the image with his mouth hanging open in shock as Tony realised that he wasn't the only laughing his ass off. Bruce was as well as Hawkeye. Widow and Cap were sniggering behind their hands, making a damn good go of not laughing outright but not really managing it. Thor was somehow keeping it together pretty well but even he couldn't hold back a smile.

 

“Jarv,” Tony said breathlessly as the singing started and he realised that this song had been what Loki had trilled as a bird. “I hope you're recording this.”

 

“Oh course Sir, though it would be easier if you were looking at the image.” Yeah, fat chance of that, he wasn't even managed to hold back tears of laughter.

 

Carameldansen. Nick Fury dancing to Carameldansen. He was pretty sure he could die happy now.

 

* * * * * * * * * 

 

Loki watched the spectacle bellow, his feathers puffed up in pride as the enlarged image of Nick Fury swung its hips with girlish glee. Illusion magic on such a scale was always a challenge and a prank well played was its own reward. He spread his wing and took to the sky. Now for part two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long, but between computer trouble work and, well, have you ever tried to describe Carameldansen? It's not exactly easy.
> 
> Loki's prank was inspired by this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdEx87fY04w


	8. Misfits and Mongrels

Nick Fury's chair was very comfortable. Very comfortable indeed as Loki sat there with his feet up on the desk, crossed at his ankle and reading a magazine about upcoming movies that he had found in the top draw. It was incredibly droll and seemed to be a few months out of date but the only other reading material he had found had been a gun magazine and those irritating devises held no interest to him.

The door clicked opened, the sound closely followed by swearing and Loki's hand shot up the catch the arrow barely a centimetre before it hit his left eye. He glanced to the tip, noting that it was just a regular arrow no matter how unnervingly close to blinding him it had come before looking to the motley crew that had assembled by the door just in time to see the Widow hit Barton over the back of the head.

“Well, at least this one doesn't explode,” he said with false levity as he put his feet to the floor and dropped the arrow onto the directors desk. The Avenger crowded the door frame behind the director, not out of their battle gear and in various stages of incredulous.

“What the fuck are you doing here and how the fuck did you get in?”

“You left the window open,” Loki replied with a grin as he got to his feet. “And I thought you wanted to talk to me, otherwise why send someone to follow me?” He dropped the magazine onto the desk next to the arrow that really had gotten too close for comfort and slowly stepped around to be a little closer to the group. The director seemed to be lost for words and choking on his anger. Leaning against the desk, Loki could do nothing to stop the wide grin that spread across his face. “Oh come now, you're not upset about my little prank are you? I thought humans had a sense of humour.”

“That prank just cost the government fuck knows how much money!” Fury snapped.

“That's hardly my fault,” he purred in response, not even pretending to be offended. Despite nearly obtaining a disfigurement far too like Odin's for comfort, he found himself in rather good spirits. “I didn't tell you to evacuate and show up with an army. Had you gone alone with the streets still crowded the result would have been the same.” He paused for a moment to consider. “Though I'm genuinely not sure which option would have been more entertaining.”

Two things happened to stop Fury from drawing his gun and firing then. The Widow put her hand on his shoulder and Stark sniggered. So instead of being shot at for what felt like the hundredth time since coming to this ridiculous back water of a planet he was instead treated to what he assumed from the eye rolls of the rest of the Avengers was a daily occurrence.

Nick Fury shouting at Tony Stark.

“Stark, I would really appreciate it if for once you would just shut the fuck up!”

“Like that's ever going to happen,” the human replied with a snort and a smirk.

“As entertaining as it is to watch you all bicker like a group of old toothless wives,” Loki said, interrupting the argument before it could even start. “This is your chance to ask your questions. Use it wisely before I grow bored and teleport home. I do have a rather busy schedule and this certainly isn't helping me to stick to it.”

“Fine,” the Director snapped. “What the fuck are you doing with the drug dealers and why?”

“As I told your Widow, even a God must eat. Not to mention riling up the Kingpin is almost its own reward.” At that, Fury's mouth hung open for a moment.

“You weren't joking about that?” he replied, single eye wide with a peculiar and singularly entertaining mixture of shock and reluctant admiration.

“Why would I?” he responded with a shrug. “His reactions to my little pranks are highly entertaining. Besides, it's not as though he poses a threat to me.”

“Ant and boot, huh?” said the director with a one eyes glare that prodded at too many sore memories. Still, he couldn't stop his smile from turning just a little bit manic as he felt the shards in his mind thrum with delight at being reminded of that time.

“Something like that,” he replied, his voice a venomous purr before he forced the reaction down and cleared his throat. “Was there anything else?” he asked, the shards buzzing angrily in his head as he denied them.

“Nothing I can trust you to actually answer,” Fury replied.

“You wound me Director,” Loki told him, placing a hand over his heart. “It's almost as though you think I earned my many titles.” And that was about when he lost the ability and desire to fight down his grin. “It took a great many years for me to become known as the God of Mischief, Lies, Chaos and Fire. But really, enough messing around. You've a master sorcerer in front of you and you can think of nothing to ask of them?”

“Do not waste this,” Thor warned, speaking up at last. “Loki does not offer council often. At least not freely.”

“The oaf speaks wisely for once. You would benefit from an expert in things magical.”

“We already have one,” Furry snapped, gesturing over his shoulder to Thor. Loki stared at his brother who seemed to be trying to shrink in on himself, not an easy feat for someone of Thor’s bulk.

Thor as a magic expert?

Something in Loki just broke. He couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. It wasn't a manic laugh. It was a laugh of genuine mirth. How anyone could call his brother a magic expert? He had to be joking. Had to be. No one in their right mind would think that Thor had anything useful to offer in a magical sense.

“Him?” he managed to gasp as he clutched his side and tried to regain his composure. Thor shifting his weight from foot to foot, obviously self conscious. “Oh that's just too funny.” Fury crossed his arms and narrowed his eye in stony silence as a horrible realisation slowly sank in, causing his laughter to petter out. “Oh by the Norns, you're serious,” he said in half startled horror. “That's just embarrassing. I can't have that, it'll ruin Asgard's reputation. The oaf hasn't been to a single magic lesson since our adolescence! No. I'm not allowing it. If anything magical comes to your attention, you're to contact me.”

“And how the hell are we meant to do that?” Furry snapped. “Light up some sort of reindeer signal?”

“I was thinking I'd just give you my phone number,” he replied. The room went oddly silent for a moment as the group of champions and his adoptive brother stared at him in a state of shock.

“Since when have you had a phone?” Hawkeye eventually asked, looking at him as though he had just sprouted an extra head.

“Since the ninties,” he replied, conjuring the old nokia out of his pocket dimension and letting it drop into his hand with well practised ease. “Just because Thor has ignored your realm until recently does not mean I have.” Then as an after thought while trying to remember how to bring up his own number, he glanced up to Fury with a roguish grin and said “oh, and because I know your little group of warriors and spies has been trying to work it out for a while, the first three crop circles were me.” Huh, he'd thought the Director couldn't look any angrier. “Though I must admit, the ones done by mortals these days are considerably more aesthetically pleasing.” Man of Iron however seemed entirely the opposite from the burst of laughter. Even the monster wearing the skin of a man beside him seemed amused. “Found it. Now, do I need to warn any of you about prank calling me?” Loki said with a grin.

“Not so much, what about dirty texts?” Stark. It was always Stark. Still, he couldn't find it in himself to be displeased, even as the rest of the group called the mortals name in disgust, the Widow even going so far as to clip him over the back of the head like an errant child.

“There's an hour long lecture in your future Stark,” Fury grumbled. “And it's titled “Don't Stick it in the Crazy”.”

“Generally I'd say that's good advise,” Loki said with a sly smirk, zeroing in on his adoptive brother. “Considering a certain someone's track record.” Thor cringed before replying.

“Please brother, I had only just managed to forget about that.”

“Well, don't forget too much. I've been tasting her magic on the air of late. Wouldn't surprise me if she was here to try and win your heart again. Now, who am I giving my phone number to?”

“I'll totally take that,” Stark said, fishing his own phone out of the pocket of his eye catchingly tight jeans, and there was no way Loki had the will power to not respond to that with a lewd grin.

“Oh I'm sure you will.”

“Brother, really?” Thor complained, wrinkling his nose.

“Oh it's not like you've ever been discrete,” Loki reminded him before rattling off his number for the benefit of the engineer. With a wide and slightly lewd grin, Stark span the phone around in his hand before slipping it back into his pocket.

“I hope you know what you've just done,” Bruce said, a sly smirk of his own on his face. Loki raised his eyebrow, wondering if it was a threat . “He drunk dials.”

“I do not! Most of the time. Usually. Okay, I do, but most of the time it's because I haven't slept in three days, not because I'm drunk.”

“I cannot say I have ever noticed the difference,” Thor replied, rolling his eyes. “Though I am used to seeing this one drunk on sleep deprivation and Sidre,” he finished with a jab of his thumb in Loki's direction. Clearing his throat, he dropped his phone back into his pocket dimension.

“Well, I think that's my cue to leave before this descends into embarrassing reminiscing about drunken nights and no one wants to hear that.”

“I do,” Stark immediately replied.

“Seconded,” said Hawkeye.

“Same here,” added the Captain, leaning against the door frame with a slight smile.

“Let me think,” Loki said, tapping his chin. “No.”

And with that he teleported away, a strange feeling of unease in his chest as he reappeared at his barely adequate base of operations. Running a hand over his face, he forced himself to breath slowly. It was too easy. Far too easy to be around them. But Thor was not his brother, the Widow was not Sif and the others were not the warriors three.

He squeezed his eyes shut as that traitorous little tremor started in his head. Humming and shaking until he swore his very skull was vibrating. Calls for rage. Calls for slaughter. Oh! It would be glorious. Without the chitari to hold him back the streets of New York would run red with the blood of this mindless chattel that would mock him. They thought they could tempt him to their side? That he would come scampering over to them like a well trained dog? Never! Not again, not after what he had endured on Asgard. And these mortals thought to do the same-

“No,” he whimpered, digging his hands into his hair and squeezing his eyes shut. No, that wasn't what they were doing. They had no reason to. Thor was not their prince, they had no reason to earn favour from him by tolerating the presence of his odd younger brother. In fact the only one of the group with any real status and power that he could see was Stark and they obviously had no interest in leeching off of that. But still the shards hummed. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling something wet and warm run down his face. His hands shook even as his fingers dug into his scalp. Images of bloody battles past flashing before his eyes as a manic snarl forced it's way onto his face.

No, he knew what he needed to do, even as the thrum intensified. It was stupid and dangerous and by the nine he didn't have a choice.

 

 

 

 

* * *

Today had been a damn good day. Jake had been able to do everything he needed to without even leaving the apartment. He had paid his bills, fixed his book shelf and even managed to some of Loki's scouting jobs all without even the possibility of seeing a single note worthy blond.

It was driving him to distraction and there was only so much of Breaking Bad he could marathon to take his mind off of his entirely fucked situation without wondering if Loki would actually care if he killed himself escape it. He sighed and shook his head before wandering over to his DVD collection. He couldn't kill himself. He might have been able to before, but not now. If he did, who would look after Loki? The guy might a grade A asshole, but it was pretty damn obvious he need someone he could rely on. Not to mention he might be older than any human alive, but he had done the maths with what Loki had told him about his age and his lifespan. He was barely college age if he had gotten it right. Way too young to be dealing with the shit that had gone through. Still, some people just got a shitty deal in life.

Definitely not a horror film, the amount of blond chicks in those things would definitely not do anything to take his mind off the situation. After being so deep in looking for more the Kin Pins mooks he really didn't want to watch a crime movie and the bruises that were on his ribs and his neck put him off action. Well, that was it, Disney it was then.

Just as he was reaching out for his copy of Mulan he noticed something. Something horribly contradictory. The air tasted of ice cold fire. The freezing not there smoke burning his nose, he turned to look over his shoulder. Frosty burning flickers singed the carpet in front of the couch, golden ice spreading out from the not quite flames, steam rising up from them like breath on a cold day.

“Oh fuck,” he muttered as the golden ice fire grew, flashes of something else, something familiar and frightening. He scrambled to the other side of the couch as the form solidified, desperate to get something between them. The manic grin was the first thing to solidify, laughter crackling through the room like cracking ice and popping wood on a fire. “Not again.” More and more of Loki came together, his magic going haywire, in turns freezing and burning anything flickered onto in a desperate attempt to drag Loki into full being. Shit! This wasn't good, this really wasn't good. Loki had told him why he didn't teleport without a clear head. It could kill him, it could leave him missing half his body. Through the gold and the blue he saw red. Red dripping down from Loki's left eye. Shit, this was about as bad as it got.

“Loki, calm down,” he pleaded, making sure the couch was definitely between them. More of the God slotted together like some mad jigsaw as his focus slid to Jake. Oh he was so screwed, but this was part of the deal. This was the most important part of the deal. If he couldn't do for Loki what Loki did for him then what the fuck was he for? The flicker, the freezing smoking energy expanded and contracted. A swirling mass that finally solidified to form Loki, whole and manic. “You don't want to do this Loki, it's the tessaract!”

Except the problem was that Loki did really want to do it. Had from the moment he had laid eyes on him. The God rose to his feet from the crouch the teleportation had left him in. Blood smeared the left side of his face and had dripped onto his neck and the iris of his left eye held an unnatural blue sheen to it.

“Is it now?” Loki purred, laying his hands on the couch in a somewhat predatory manner. “So it has nothing at all to do with what you are? A rabid dog wearing the form of a man.” He flipped the couch with the ease that anyone else might through a pencil. Jake scrambled to get out of the way, avoiding being hit by a hairs breadth. “A detestable little cretin that preys on the weak for base gratification.”

“Think of the list, do you really want to add to it?” he asked, backing off, hands raised in a placating motion. Hoping to hell and back that he could get through. Please, let this work, please. Oh fuck, he was so dead. Loki stalked towards him, his pace increasing the closer he got. Cold hand gripping his throat the moment he was in reach and then his back slammed against his book shelf, his head knocking a hard back with dizzying force before Loki lifted him, scrapping his back against the wood. He hissed in pain and grabbed Loki's arm, eyes watering and throat burning with the grip.

“If anything, your death would lighten that list,” the God snarled.

“It's still extra red,” he gasped. Another pulse of blood trickled from the Gods eyes. Oh thank fuck he was at least still fighting it. Not that it was doing any good for him right now. He flailed his legs and coughed as his eyes started watering. “Anita Attkinson,” he croaked out. Loki's breath turned shaky, his grip tightening and loosening with his twitching fingers. “Nine years old.” The Gods free hand came up to clench at his head and he gritted his teeth in something that wasn't quite a snarl. “Just a little girl. Torn apart.” Another bloody tear and Loki dropped him to the floor, forcing himself to turn away as Jake coughed and sputtered, rubbing at his throat. The God was shaking, blue energy crackling around his head and his left shoulder. And Jake was about to be cruel. “Twenty percent of the casualties were kids Loki,” he began, trying to ignore the burning in his throat and the unfamiliar unpleasant pulse of his conscience. “Not adults, not combatants, kids that were twelve or under.”

“Silence,” the God hissed, even as he fell to his knees and the smell of burning flesh started to fill the apartment. No, not flesh, blood.

“Can you imagine how scared they must have been. Running from monsters that just appeared out of no where. And they weren't all clean deaths.” Loki gripped at his head with enough force to make the trembling in his hands and arms shake.

“Stop it.”

“Not always just a quick band and then gone. Some of them bled to death over hours. Missing limbs, rubble on top of them.”

“Shut up.”

“Kids Loki, little kids died in that clusterfuck of an invasion you led. Probably went out screaming for their parents as the chitari tore them to piece-”

“You can stop now Jake,” the god interrupted him, slumping his shoulders and his hands falling away from his head.

“You sure?”

“Do you like having lungs?” he asked as he not quite gracefully fell to the side and turned to lean against the couch, breathing heavily.

“I'll take that as a yes,” Jake replied with a sigh of relief before wandering into his kitchen to get himself and the exhausted God a glass of water. Loki's eyes had slipped closed and the blood coating the left side of his face had coagulated and in spots blackened from being burnt. There was a pause as he held the glass out to the God, then he cracked his right eye open.

“I didn't hurt you too badly did I?” he asked, taking the glass. Jake shook his head.

“I've probably lost the safety deposit though.”

“I'll repair the damage,” Loki said before taking a sip. Jake eased himself down onto the floor beside the trickster, not too close, Loki liked his personal space. But close enough to remind him that he wasn't alone. The moments ticked by slowly and Jake couldn't take his eyes off of Loki, not through self preservation, but through worry. This had happened a few times, but it was obvious how much it took out of Loki, both mentally and physically.

“What set it off this time?” he asked, hoping he wasn't pushing his luck. Loki sighed and let his head fall back. Jake didn't think he had ever seen the God look so small.

“It's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. The Avengers. They were just . . . talking to me. Almost being friendly.” He gave a small derisive little laugh. “And I called you the rabid dog.” With anyone else Jake would put his hand on their shoulder or even dare to hug them, but right now Loki may as well have been made of already cracked glass. A fraction too much pressure and he would just crumble to dust. The most deadly dust that anyone could ever even conceive of, but still dust.

“You're not a rabid dog Loki,” he said, trying to sound comforting without coming off as condescending. “You've got an alien weapon stuck in your brain trying to turn you into a physho and you're fighting it. Not only that you're trying to fix things. Plus, you know, soft spot for kids, who'd have thought?” Loki tilted his head to level a flat unimpressed look at him.

“You really don't know your myths, do you?”

“Last time I tried to look you up online, all I found was creepy horse porn fanfic.” Loki let out a groan, his head falling back against the couch again.

“I am going to _murder_ Fandral.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, you wouldn't believe how much of a pain in the arse this was to write. Group scenes, urgh, they're a killer. Anyway, thanks to everyone that hit the kudos button and commented. I love hearing from people and if people ask questions I'll answer them provided it's nothing spoilery.
> 
> Oh and last time Jake appeared I got a lot of questions about who he was. He's an OC that I didn't realise I needed but, well, you can see why I need him now.


	9. Friendship is Magic

Loki stared at the page of the book in his hands, struggling to make any sense of it. His head was still pounding from his little control incident a couple of days ago and he felt weary down to his very bones. The simple story swam through his head, becoming lost and muddled in the murky waters. The buzz of the cafe rattled around his skull and Loki ran a hand over his face. Was this exhaustion or just the after effects of his little episode? Whatever it was he swore it was getting worse and the fight that had raged on over the weekend hadn't exactly helped.

 

He knew he needed a break, but he also knew that he didn't deserve one. The hour he took with Pepper in this place would have to do. Besides, the construct he was working on was practically taking a break. It hadn't reached the point where it was taxing and was more repetitive, though he had yet to decide what to name it. Still, the challenge of creating a space faring construct was at least a break in the monotony if not actual rest.

 

The door to the cafe opened with the quiet ring of a bell and in stepped Pepper. Followed closely by the Widow. Wonderful, so much for a relaxing chat. He watched with vague irritation as they went to the counter first and placed their order before making their way over to his table, the Widow carrying a small plate with possibly the most fattening slice of chocolate cake he had ever seen in his life.

 

“Consider it a piece offering,” the spy said, placing it on the table then pushing it towards him before dropping into one of the chairs. “It looks like you could do with the pick me up.” He stared at her for a moment, wondering if he was hallucinating even as she put the fork down on the plate by the cake.

 

“Thank you?” he replied, now feeling slightly paranoid about how truly terrible he must look.

 

“She needed to get out of the tower before she murdered Clint,” Pepper explained. “So I invited her along.”

 

“Well, blood stains are terribly difficult to remove,” Loki said, folding the page over in his book before disapearing it. The spy's lips quirked up into the slightest smile. She looked incredibly tense and he was far too tired to be able to properly tell the cause of her high strung body language. It could be his presence, or it could just be a build up of stress. Either way, he didn't give a dragons flying fuck, he had free cake and rather than worry about it he happily picked up the fork.

 

“He hasn't stopped whining since he broke his little finger on Saturday,” Natasha filled in and he took a bite of the cake. His magic hummed happily under his skin and he realised that the bulk of his problem was that his magic was still scattered from his damn foolish teleportation.

 

“I didn't realise anyone had been injured while fighting the . . . whatever in the name of the Norns those things were.”

 

“Tony's still going with beeple,” Pepper helpfully supplied as their coffee was brought over to them. He was very happy to see that one of the ladies had found it in their heart to get him a refill, and one with an extra shot from the colour of it. The next bite of cake had him feeling suspicious. He could swear he was being buttered up for something. It certainly didn't stop him from taking a sip of the ice latte and yes there was the caramel. They were definitely after something from him.

 

“It wasn't in the fight. The idiot managed to slam a car door on his hand on the way back to the tower.” Loki stared at Natasha, not entirely sure he had heard that right.

 

“I'm sorry, the near super agile archer that makes a hobby of throwing himself off of roof tops did what to his hand?”

 

“Slammed it in a car door,” she reaffirmed. “Oh, he says thank you for catching him by the way.” Loki waved off the thanks and went back to his cake to fight away the urge to laugh. If they were going to try and manipulate him into doing something he was going to damn well enjoy his confectionery before they started.

 

“How was your date with the Captain by the way?” he asked, both curious and hoping to delay the inevitable request. Pepper flushed as red as her hair and the Lady Romanov turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

 

“The pair of you managed to keep that quiet,” she said in an almost impressed voice. Pepper shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

 

“Well, we only really got through about half of it, what with the attack of the beeple.”

 

“I am never calling them that,” Natasha cut in.

 

“And?” Loki prodded leaning back in his chair and scooping up a little more of his cake. Pepper somehow managed to turn an even brighter red and Loki couldn't stop himself smirking a little.

 

“Well,” she said, artfully avoiding eye contact with either of them and choosing instead to stir her hot chocolate.

 

* * *

After three hours of tearing through her wardrobe she finally managed to find something that she hoped wouldn't make her look like a tramp to someone that had slept through the sixties. She went fairly light on the make up and wore slightly smaller heels than usual and then spent twenty minutes nervously chewing on her lip and hovering on the edge of a panic attack. She actually squeaked when the intercom up to her apartment buzzed. She had never been happier that she was no longer a live in PA, if Tony had heard that she would have been mortified. The way she dashed over to the receiver was even more embarrassing.

 

“Hello?” she said, heart already beating far too fast. Why did it feel like she was a teenager again?

 

“Hi Miss- I mean Pepper. It's Steve,” came the crackly and somewhat hesitant response.

 

“I'll be right down.” And with that she grabbed her hand bag and dashed for the door. The wait in the elevator was almost painful and her stomach started to churn in ways that weren't entirely pleasant.

When she finally escaped the building and saw Steve, it was almost as though her heart stopped. True she had seen him dressed in smart yet casual clothes before, but she had never seen him looking at  _her_ that way. His head ducked slightly and a small shy smile on his face that she couldn't help but return.

 

“It's good to see you,” she said, pulling him for a kiss on the cheek and a _very_ close hug and wow the guy was ripped.

 

* * *

“ Oh this is far too sickening,” Loki said, interrupting the story.

 

“The cake?” Natasha asked. Loki shook his head.

 

“No, the description of the Captains abdominal muscles. I mean really Pepper, I'm trying to eat.” Natasha gave an inelegant snort and hid her smile in her coffee.

 

“I bet you'd be all ears if I was talking about Tony's abs,” she replied with a smirk, her embarrassment having faded. “Besides, you asked.”

 

“About how your date went, not about how often you discretely groped him in public,” he replied, gesturing to her with his fork before returning his attention to his cake.

 

“I notice you didn't deny wanting to hear about Tony's abs,” she said, swirling her hot chocolate, eyeing him in a way that was no way discrete.

 

“Why would I? The Man of Iron looks pleasant enough and I'm sure he is well _sculpted_.”

 

“Oh he is,” Pepper replied, her smile turned wicked.

 

“Okay, Rogers naked I can deal with hearing about,” the spy said. “Stark? No way in hell. I'll either puke or stab someone.”

 

“Fine, I'll get back to talking about Steve.”

 

* * *

 

He offered her his arm as they began to walk and Pepper more than happily took advantage of that. She could feel the warmth rolling off of his skin even through his jacket.

 

“I don't think I've heard of this place before,” she said, moving a little closer to him in what she hoped was a discrete manner. Steve's cheeks flushed red and he ducked his head again.

 

“It's probably not as fancy as you're used to,” he said, sounding more than a little embarrassed. “But the people that run it are friendly and the atmosphere is really nice.”

 

“I'm sure it'll be lovely,” she reassured him, knocking her hip into his and making him blush even more. How was it possible that someone so tall and so muscular was simultaneously so adorable? “Besides, as long as the food's good who cares how fancy it is?” At that he visibly relaxed. The walk to the restaurant was pleasant and filled with slightly awkward light chat. She had never realised just how little they had actually talked until then.

The restaurant wasn't very far away and Pepper had never felt safer on the streets of New York after dark than she did walking with Steve. Ever the perfect gentleman, he opened the door for her once they were there. It was a nice cosy little Italian restaurant, the sort that had to be ran by a family rather than some chain. It was intimate and instantly warming. A coy smile from Steve and someone she assumed was the head waiter lead them to their seats. Menus were given out and drink orders were taken with a promise to return in a few minutes to take their food order. By the time they had come back the last little bit of awkwardness had faded and they were holding hands over the table.

 

* * *

 

“Stop looking at me like that Loki,” Pepper told him with a slight glare. “It's off putting.” Loki sighed and looked wistfully at his now empty plate.

 

“We should have done this in a tavern. I am by far too sober to endure such overly romantic dross.” Natasha hid another grin in her coffee cup as Pepper's glare intensified. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Go on, but could you at least leave out the part where you gaze longingly into each others eyes?” The little smirk he got in response let him know that she was going to do no such thing.

 

* * *

 

The food was good and the chat was pleasant. Steve was a perfect gentleman and it was exceptionally difficult to resist the urge to dirty him up a little. So she didn't even bother trying. About half way through their meal, when she was absolutely sure he was interested, Pepper slipped her foot out of her stiletto and, as stealthily as she could, she rubbed at his ankle with her toes. Steve choked on his food and flushed bright red, his eyes wide like a rabbit in headlights. Pepper did her best to look faux innocent and took a sip from her wine glass. Steve gave her an unsure smile as he managed to swallow and then moved his leg a little closer to her while ducking his head and  _oh_ that was just unfair. He should not look so adorable and damn innocent when she was doing this.

 

His smile deepened a little and he opened his mouth to say something just as the battle music from Final Fantasy seven started blaring from his pocket. His smile quickly shifted into a frown. “Sorry, I have to-”

 

“I know. It's okay,” she reassured him as he pulled his phone out, a frown still on his face. She moved her foot away and slipped it back into her shoe as Steve answered the phoned.

 

“Captain Rodgers here,” he said, his Captain America voice coming to the fore again. “I understand. I'll be there ASAP.” And with that he hung up and looked at Pepper with big apologetic puppy eyes. “It's a call to assemble. I'm so sorry. I have to-”

 

* * *

 

“So I grabbed and kissed him and sent him on his way.”

 

“Mhmm,” said the Widow, clearly sceptical and not even trying to hide it.

 

“And what did you actually do?” Loki asked, leaning back in his chair and watching Pepper huff with an amused grin on his lips. She shifted in her seat, her eyes flicking from Romanov to him with a pout worthy of a spoilt adolescent.

 

“Told him I understood, stared at his ass while he ran out the door then ordered the biggest dessert on the menu and tried not to cry into my wine.”

 

“That sounds more like it,” Loki replied with a smirk that earned him another under the table kick.

 

“That explains why Steve was a bit more vicious than usual,” Romanov said with a contemplative expression. “I thought he just was just freaked out by giant the nocturnal bees.”

 

“Do you want another coffee Loki?” Pepper asked, her voice like honey even with it's obvious change in the direction of the conversation. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

 

“Why are the pair of you bribing me?” he asked. Now he had finished his cake and his coffee he was in no mood to prolong their amateurish attempts at manipulation. The Lady Natasha snorted.

 

“I told you he'd notice,” she said in answer to Pepper's glare. The CEO's shoulders slumped and she let out a frustrated sigh before lunging into her explanation.

 

“So Nat and I are seriously stressed and really need to blow off steam. So we're going for a girls night out. We're going to get seriously drunk, dance and listen to horrible music that we won't even remember tomorrow.”

 

“But?”

 

“But two people is a bit of a lame girls night out and we she sure as hell aren't going to invite Hill. You would not believe how much of a kill joy that woman is.” Loki frowned, glancing between them as he wondered what that had to do with him.

 

Then he remembered and his eyes widened in realisation.

 

“No,” he said firmly. “No, you are not dressing me up like some harlot and dragging me to some loud sweat soaked tavern. Absolutely not.”

 

* * *

 

The ride across the rainbow bridge had been a pleasant one, even if Sleipnir was obviously aching to go faster. Odin would have to remember to take the horse for a proper long ride at some point. The last time the construct had gotten restless had been, well, highly unpleasant. It would not do to allow it to happen again, especially not when he had promised Loki that he would care for the horse as best as he was able.

 

He signalled for Sleipnir to slow as they came up to the bifrost and luckily they heeded his instruction, though obviously unhappy about it. The horse snorted and hoofed at the ground in displeasure, but allowed him to dismount without any trouble. “I know you're restless,” he said to the beast, giving his neck an firm pat. “I'll take you out across the meadows tomorrow, give you the chance to get you get your heart pounding.” The horse gave a snort, then head butted his chest and gestured to the bifrost. Odin blinked in surprise. He really needed to remember that Sleipnir was so intelligent. His son would produce no common horse. “You worry for Loki?” The horse gave a nod and nudged him a little, prompting Odin to reach up and stroke at his nose. Of course he worried for Loki. What child wouldn't worry for their parent. “Come then, put your mind at ease with me.” And with that he walked towards Hiemdal, his proud stead staying close at his side.

 

If he was surprised, the gate keeper hid it well. “Greetings my king,” he said with a nod.

 

“Hiemdal,”Odin said in rely to his greeting. “Have you managed to lay your eyes on Loki?”

 

“One or twice, he lets me see him now and again. A show of good faith I think. Just two nights ago he allowed me see him in battle alongside Thor and his new allies.” The guardian walked with him to the edge to look out over the stars. “He wields Gungir as though he were born with the weapon in his hand.” Odin could not stop a smile at that and Sleipnir behind him gave another snort and held his head high, clearly proud.

 

“Do you see him now?” Odin asked, not wanting to search for himself. Unsure if his heart could take it if his search proved futile.

 

“Mostly I see the ripples his actions cause,” Hiemdal said as he turned his eyes to the stars. “Buildings being repaired, criminals suddenly being bound and chained. But occasionally I-” The gaurdian cut himself off with something that was halfway between a cough and laugh. He cleared his throat while unsuccessfully trying to fight down a wide grin. “I see him now my King.”

 

Curious, Odin turned his Sight to Midgard. The stars blurred past, the branches of the Ygdrasil an easy path to follow with his eyes until finally his gaze fell upon New York only to speed through the streets and then through a wall into . . .

 

A seamstresses measuring room perhaps? He wasn't entirely sure, but there were two tall and slender red haired women sat in comfortable looking chairs. One had the look of a warrior about her, despite not being dressed for battle and the other he recognised as the woman his son had been spending much time with. Lady Pepper. There were small compartments that had thick red curtains at their entrance.

 

A pale hand pushed the curtain of one compartment aside and a thoroughly unimpressed looking Loki stepped out in their female form. The dress they wore was utterly scandalous. A rich green and cut off at the knee as well as showing by far too much cleavage and leaving her arms bare.

 

“You look amazing,” Pepper cooed. Loki's eyes narrowed.

 

“I look like a whore,” she snapped in return. Odin felt his shoulders start to shake with repressed laughter.

 

“No, you look like someone going to a nightclub. Seriously, those legs are amazing. We need to get you some shoes to go with it.” Loki paled and his eyes widened in horror.

 

“No, I'm putting my foot down on this. I will not allow you to further humiliate me by putting something like those on my feet,” he snapped, pointing at the admittedly impressive looking shoes with five inch spiked at the heels.

 

“Really?” Pepper asked with a little smirk and a slight tilt to her eyebrow. Loki shifted uncomfortably, wrapping her arms around herself in some attempt to preserve some little modesty.

 

“No.”

 

“Please Loki, Please.” The look on his daughters face let him know that the God was going to crumble like an ill maintained fortress.

 

Odin let out a laugh and turned his Sight from Midgard. “She has Loki wrapped around her little finger.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks you so much for the review and kudos ^.^ I love hearing from people so do be shy. I only got two question and the answer to both is spoilers :P
> 
> Sorry this took so long, I really don't haver much time on my hands.


	10. Here Come the Girls

Loki squirmed as she stood in the horrid metal box with Pepper and Natasha as it sped upwards from the spy's quarters. The golden strappy shoes squashed her toes and put all of her weight on the ball of her foot, her face felt clammy and whatever the two mortals had smeared across her lips tasted worse than cold pig fat, not to mention the crusty feeling that the coal around her eyes brought with it was intolerable. It was a fight to stop herself from rubbing at her eyes and the _damn fucking strap on her left shoulder had fallen down_ , _again!_ Righting the infernal thing for what felt like the fortieth time in the last ten minutes, Loki tried to focus on the more pleasant aspects of the ridiculous garb she had been bullied and black mailed in to.

 

The stockings and the lacy belt that held them up were comfortable she supposed. The fine mesh was soft and almost silken on her skin, almost like the spider veils of Aflhiem. The bra she could happily live without, though it looked appealing and might be worth while in very specific circumstances, she greatly preferred the support that was built into Acear clothing. She approved of the manageable curls that the terrifying duo had managed to coax out of her hair as well, or at least she had until they had started spraying that horrid tasting, primitive concoction onto her with little warning.

 

The other two had gushed over their handy work and Loki had had to fight back the urge to snap their necks for it. She had been so sure they were mocking her until they had started getting dressed themselves. Natasha in a black dress covered in sequins that was even shorter than the dress they had cajoled the God into and Pepper was wearing a slinky little blue dress with a plunging neckline and shoes that she supposed were impressive even by her usual standard. They had both gone just as over the top with their own hair and make up as well, though Pepper's was more subtle around the eyes.

 

“Trying to put ideas in Roger's head?” Natasha asked with that small little smirk of hers and a long appreciative look at Pepper's bosom. Pepper's returning grin bordered on predatory.

 

“Oh I hope so. Though mostly I'm hoping to stop him from noticing the age gap.”

 

“If he manages to notice your face in that outfit I'd be impressed,” the assassin replied. Loki gave a little laugh.

 

“You dressed like that for the Captain's benefit when he is not even coming out with us?” she asked, smiling despite herself. It had been a while since she had let herself get involved in something like this. Something that came with little to no consequences. Something light and more about fun than anything else.

 

“No, I dressed like this because I wanted to show the shoes off,” she explained. “The chance to try and get Captain America to think impure thoughts about my tits is just an added bonus.”

 

“You truly are a lady of great class,” Loki replied with a smirk as Natasha sniggered.

 

The metal box -elevator was it?- shuddered to a stop and opened with a sound that was not quite the peel of a bell. And for the first time since they had started on this ridiculous venture Loki realised that _other people_ were actually going to see her dressed like this. People she knew and would be forced to see again.

 

* * *

The look on Steve's face when Pepper stepped out of the elevator was at least in the top ten  on a list of the funniest things Tony had ever seen in his life. His cheeks and the tips of his ears flushed bright red in less than half a second and his jaw dropped for the tiniest moment before he realised and snapped it shut to give a nervous swallow. It looked like he didn't even notice the other two women as Pepper walked towards him, a spring in her step and a bit more sway in her hip than was strictly necessary. The dear Captain made a valiant effort to avoid staring at Pep's boobs, his eyes only flicking down once, maybe twice. It was an active effort not to laugh at him. He had seen Pepper pull out the femme fatale act before, the poor guy didn't stand a chance.

 

Then Tony's eyes landed on Loki and apparently neither did he. It was one thing to know that Loki could turn into a woman and another entirely to see the results. The dress was borderline indecent with how short it was, though part of that seemed to be down to her incredibly long legs. Her hips were wide and the dip to her waist pronounced and perfect. Hair teased into curls and makeup smoky around the eyes and blood red for the lips, highlighting just how pale Loki was. Though there was something a little off about the Goddess, the way they were standing. Their expression perhaps?

 

“Steve, it’s good to see you,” Pepper said, rising up on her tip toes to put a light kiss on Caps cheek.

 

“You too Pepper,” he replied, turning red to the tips of his ears. Then he seemed to remember that he wasn’t a thirteen year old boy and cleared his throat. “Sorry about Saturday.”

 

“Oh don’t worry about it,” she said with false flippancy. “We can always reschedule.” At that, Steve perked up, even seeming to stand a little taller.

 

“Why don’t you check your diary and let me know when you’re free next,” he replied, sounding as though he was teasing a little for some reason.

 

A reason that really didn’t matter now that he had put his finger on what was wrong with Loki despite the absolute vision they made in that shape and that outfit.

 

“I’m just going to get something for you,” he said, waving the drink in his hand at Loki to get their attention. “I think it’ll really put the finishing touches on that outfit for you.” The God gave him a dubious look but didn’t move to stop him as he set down his glass and wandered off into his bedroom to rummage through his wardrobe. He found what he was looking for pretty quickly and was soon striding back into his living room.

 

“Never seen you without leather before,” he said, shaking his jacket out and then holding it up for Loki to slip into. The Goddess blinked in surprised then accepted what he was offering, allowing Tony to pull it up her arms and smooth it onto her shoulders. Loki let out a sigh and gave him a thankful little smile. Standing a little taller and prouder the moment they were a bit more covered up.

 

Tony had never met a woman from Asgard, but he had seen what the men wore. Lots of layers and armour. So it wasn’t too hard to imagine that their women covered up a bit more than the average American woman.

 

“Thank you Stark,” she said with a smile. “I’ll be sure to get it back to you. It might even avoid getting battle scars.”

 

“Not if Nat takes you to her usual bars.”

 

“I like a lively atmosphere,” the assassin said with a shrug.

 

“There’s lively and then there suicidal,” Tony said with a roll of his eyes.

 

“What’s a night out without a good tavern brawl?” Loki added, trying for innocent and failing miserably. Tony blinked and stared.

 

“I honestly can’t tell if you’re joking or not.” At that Loki’s smile turned sly and she looked at him from under her lashes before practically purring her response.

 

“I suppose you’ll find out in the morning, won’t you.”

 

“Come on, time to go,” interrupted Pepper as she flounced past, placing a quick kiss on his cheek on the way.

 

“Goodbye Stark, enjoy your boys night in,” Loki said over her shoulder as Pepper and Nat lead her back into the elevator. He waited for the doors to slide shut before turning back to Thor who was watching him with something that could have been amusement or pity.

 

“You could have warned me that your sister was hot as fuck.”

 

“You could have warned me that Pepper and Natasha were going to paint her face like a-” Thor clamped his mouth shut and almost sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck before turning away.

 

“Like what?” Tony asked, curious about what could be so bad that Thor was considering the use of tact. The God of Thunder awkwardly cleared his throat.

 

“I know that this is not the case here, but on Asgard only sex workers paint their lips.” Tony gaped as Thor took a drink and then started sniggering to himself. “I feel it’s my duty as a brother to never let them live this down.”

 

* * *

 

It was like no tavern Loki had ever been to. There were flashing lights, blaring noise that she supposed was meant to be music and if that was dancing then she didn’t know what to think other than thank the Norns she hadn’t actually managed to take this place over.

 

With a sigh, Loki reached out and tapped the back of her companions heads, her magic responding readily as though it had been waiting for a chance to dash out and act. Natasha span around, barely stopping herself from punching her in the face at the unexpected contact. Loki gave her a grin and fluttered her eyelashes.

 

“It’s just so we can hear each other,” she explained, leaning to the right so she could look around the Lady Natasha’s frozen fist.

 

“Warning next time, Loki,” she near growled out, then blinked in surprise, probably from noticing the spell’s effects.

 

“Now, now ladies,” Pepper interrupted, putting her hand on the other redhead’s fist and gently lowering it. “Time spent fighting is time we’re not spending drinking.”

 

“Wiser words have never been spoken, shall I scare the large tattooed man out of the booth over there?” Loki asked.

 

“Five bucks says you can’t do it,” Natasha teased with a smirk.

 

“I really should have seen this coming,” Pepper grumbled as Loki’s grin turned sharp before she glanced over to their desired table and flicked her wrist. The man let out a cry that was drowned out by the racket of the tavern, staring down to his glass and scrambling away, leaving Natasha staring in opened mouthed shock.

 

“How did you-”

 

“A lady never reveals her tricks and secrets,” Loki replied, walking off towards the now vacant table and picking a little bit of fluff from the sleeve of the jacket that Stark had graciously lent to her.

 

“You’re a lady?” Natasha asked with obvious scepticism, as though she was one to judge ladylike beahaviour.

 

“About a third of the time,” she replied, adding a bit of extra sway to her hips as she moved.

 

The three of them took their place at the table, Loki somehow ending up between the other two.

 

“So,” Pepper said with a near predatory smile. “How much do you trust us?”

 

“Very little after what you’ve done to my face. Why?”

 

“There’s nothing wrong with your face-”

 

“There wasn’t until you got hold of it.”

 

“Your make up is fine, stopping bitching. We’re not even talking about that,” Pepper insisted.

 

“We’re not?”

 

“No, we’re talking about getting you as drunk as possible and if you trust us to do it.” If only Loki wasn’t sat between the two of them so he could stare incredulously at both women at once.

 

“You want to get the insane God of Mischief drunk? I don’t think you’ve properly thought this through, but it’s certain to be hilarious so give it your best efforts.”

 

The moment the words were out of his mouth, Pepper gave a little happy squeal and flounced off to the bar, shimmying her way through the throng of people.

 

“Does she know that I can drink Thor under the table?”

 

“If she comes back with a row shots just for you, then yes.”

 

She didn’t, but she was surprising quick considering the scrum that that had been between her and the bar. Instead she came back with a bottle and three small glasses. She set to pouring each of them a measure, Loki’s roughly three times the size of the other two.

 

“I’m assuming you’ve got Thor’s tolerance for this by the way,” Pepper said as she poured the last glass.

 

“You’ll soon see, won’t you,” she replied as she picked up her own glass and sniffed at the amber liquid in it. She hadn’t really bothered with the local liquor in her jaunts around Midgard, so she wasn’t fully sure whit was, but it smelt like something a Dwarf would brew so she gave it a cautious sip.

 

It tasted like a watered down version of Musplhiem brandy. Disappointingly lacking in kick by comparison, but then Loki doubted all but the more hardcore of human alcoholics would be able to survive a measure of the stuff. Shrugging, she took a longer drink before realising that Pepper and Natasha were staring at her.

 

“What?”

 

“I think we’re going to need to bring out the big guns if we want to get you on the dance floor,” Natasha replied with something vaguely resembling awe.

 

“Or swap the glass for a bucket.”

 

“Wait, you actually intend for me to join that group of sweaty humans waving their arms around?”

 

“It’s called dancing Loki,” Pepper said with a roll of her eyes.

 

“I can assure it’s not.”

 

“Then what would you call it?”

 

“The prelude to a disappointing orgy.”

 

The drinks flowed freely, as did the laughter and the shameless ogling of random strangers that none of them had any intention of talking to. Pepper had started wobbling a bit as she walked when it was her round and had taken to just giving Loki the money. Natasha seemed to be holding up frighteningly well for a human until she forgot how to speak English for ten solid  minutes in the middle of an anecdote, which didn’t really bother Loki, she only noticed because the other woman’s accent shifted and Pepper started giggling. It was a surprisingly easy comradary, the type of companionship that Loki had dearly missed. The good company was even making the racket seem like it might be music, or perhaps that was the alcohol finally taking affect.

 

This round was hers, and Loki made her way to the bar, feeling a little giddy as she slipped through the crowd to lean on the bar and wait for a chance to order her drinks. Her spirits were high, even as she noticed the man next to her eying her up as though she was a piece of meat. Rolling her eyes, Loki averted her gaze so as not to encourage the clearly drunken idiot.

 

Only to feel them stroke at her arm and make he seriously regret leaving Starks jacket with Pepper and Natasha.

 

“Get your hand off of me,” she snapped, shooting him a glare as the barman finally took note of her presence.

 

And then Loki felt a hand on her buttocks. Whirling around in furry, she grabbed the curs hand and twisted. He let out a satisfying yelp and dropped to his knees to avoid his wrist snapping,

 

“What the fuc-”

 

“Listen here you detestable little wretch,” Loki near growled, planting a foot on the shoulder of the hand she held in her grip and starting to firmly but slowly push. “If you cannot leave a woman be out of respect, then do so for fear that she may be another _like me!_ ”

 

With that she gave his arm a yank, holding on just long enough to feel the satisfying pop of the humorous sliding out of it’s joint then dropped the dullard to the floor. He whimpered, in pain and probably fear, and Loki turned her back on his to face the horrified barman.

 

“Three vodkas please,” she said with a pleasant smile. His eyes flicked from the whimpering creature at her heals to her face and back again before giving a shaky nod and quickly went about gathering her drinks. Someone came to gather up the babbling idiot, but Loki paid it little mind and handed over the money, making sure to tip for the trouble before sauntering back to the table where Pepper sat staring at her with her mouth hanging open and Natasha was giving her a small approving smile.

 

“I keep forgetting that you’re actually dangerous,” Pepper muttered as Loki placed the drinks on the table, glad to be free of the awkward hold she had on them.

 

“Please tell me you broke that little shit’s wrist.”

 

“I’ll have you know I can exercise some restraint. I only dislocated his shoulder,” she replied haughtily.

 

“I’d have broken his wrist,” Nastasha said, clearly unashamed.

 

“Whatever happened to a warning slap?”

 

“Pepper my dear, if I’d slapped him, he would be dead.”

 

“I don’t put up with that bullshit if I’m not on the clock,” Natasha said with a shrug. It was certainly reasoning that Loki could understand.

 

“I am not drunk enough for this,” Pepper said before downing her tiny drink. “But I am drunk enough to dance. Come on.”

 

“What?”

 

“Oh yes! Drink up Loki.”

 

“No! Nononononono!”

 

“Loki, yes.”

 

“Usually it’s _Loki, no_.”

 

Perhaps it was the shear confusion that meant her drink ended up down her throat and her feet hit the sweat filled and overcrowded dance floor. At some point when she was sober and nowhere near these two women she was going to have to have a good long think about why she bowed to their whims so easily, but for now she stood awkwardly, face so hot she was sure it was bright red with embarrassment as she swayed from side to side a little with the music.

 

“Oh that is not dancing.”

 

And then she found out just how drunk Pepper was as the other woman’s leg was suddenly between her own and her hands where on her hips pulling them to sway and swivel with the song. And Loki was so shocked that she simply let it happen.

 

“Hands on my shoulders if you’re not planning on doing anything with them,” the mortal commanded as Loki stared into the face of her grinning friend. Blinking back the shock at the sheer impropriety of this, Loki did as she was told, glancing around only to find that what they were doing was by far among the tamest demonstration among the people there.

 

It was only then that she let herself relax, sure that her friend wasn’t trying to mock her. This was ridiculous, it was embarrassing, _it was so fun_. She actually found herself laughing and happily joining in once she got over her own sensibilities. Pepper and Natasha stayed close, if not touching at all times, almost warding off other participants. She didn’t know if they were doing it because three was more than enough for company or if they were doing it to make her feel more comfortable, but she was grateful either way.

 

They danced until people started to drift off and the lights came up, a clear enough signal that closing time was upon them. There was much grumbling and complaining, but people began to file out without much hassle. Stark’s jacket once again firmly in place and all but bracing up Pepper, the three of them went with the crowd onto the street.

 

“That was quite enjoyable,” Loki admitted as they made their wobbly way back to the tower on foot. Perhaps not the best move, but it was relatively close and Loki was sure that she was sober enough to protect the two humans, though she wasn’t entirely sure Natasha needed it despite the amount of alcohol she had consumed. At very least she was managing to walk on her own, unlike Pepper.

 

“We told you it would be,” said the spy.

 

“What she say?” Pepper asked, her words blurring at the edges.

 

“She said I should carry you,” Loki lied as she picked the feather light human up as though a she were a blushing bride to be carried over the threshold. Yes, it had definitely been a good night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this has taken me so long. So so sorry. I kind of got distracted by writing a novel.
> 
> Anyway, I've set up a proper writing schedule to make sure this get's updated at least every month, so hopefully this won't happen again. As always, I love hearing what people think and I hope you enjoyed this chapter of silliness.
> 
> Also, I have a tumblr. Feel free to come find me there. The address is bellow.
> 
> http://ninasnon-sense.tumblr.com/


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 

Apparently Loki wasn’t two thousand anymore. Or at least that was what she took away from the pulsing headache. Groaning, she pressed her face into the welcoming plumpness of the pillow and buried herself deeper into the bed.

 

The huge, warm, comfortable bed.

 

Wait, what?

 

Loki’s eyes sprang open and she shot up to take in her surrounding and _oh_ , that was a mistake. The light hitting her eyes had a sharp pain lance through her head and the quick movement had her stomach forcibly reminding her that she was nauseous.

 

“Good morning Miss,” came a voice from somewhere in the ceiling as Loki tried in vain to remember where she was. Though she supposed the voice of Stark’s construct was a reasonably good indicator. “The time is ten forty seven a.m. There is a sixty percent chance of rain today and the temperature is forty eight degrees. Shall I inform Mister Stark that you have woken?”

 

“No?” Loki replied, blinking in confusion as she glanced around. The room was opulent in a way that was oddly foreign to her. There was no gold, no book shelves, no tapestries. There was a painting on one of the walls, a beautiful thing but with no real subject. It might have been the sea with all the swirls and ridges but the colours were off somehow. Despite the lack of obvious finery the room still looked expensive somehow. With its dark wood furniture, the soft cotton covers on the bed and the bed itself. “Where am I?” she asked, giving up trying to think through the fog. This definitely wasn’t Natasha’s couch.

 

“You are in Mister Stark’s guest room,” the construct explained. “Mister Odinson carried you in here after you fell asleep on Mister Stark.”

 

_She pressed Stark against the wall, leaning against him but trying to hold back her strength. The mortal stared at her wide eyes, pupils dilated and unresisting to her advances._

_“I would very much like to kiss you,” she purred, leaning closer and pressing against him, their lips almost touching. “Mister Stark.”_

 

She blinked and looked around, noticing that she was still in the dress she had worn while out with Pepper and Natasha. So she probably hadn’t slept with Stark. Probably. Hopefully anyway, she wanted to remember that if she had. Stark was most certainly appealing to look at, it would be a shame if she had gotten a better look and then drew a blank after the fact.

 

She slipped out of bed and noticed that while she was still wearing the dress and the majority of the underwear, her stocking were missing.

 

_Stark’s hands slid up her thigh, warm and all too welcome. Loki shifted as she lay on the couch with her feet in the human’s lap. He unclipped the stocking with deft fingers as she watched from under her lashes, a suggestive smile on her lips to go with the buzz in her veins. Starks fingers began to brush her stocking down, his finger tips never leaving her skin on their journey down her leg._

_“Sister? Really?” said Thor from his place in the nearby arm chair. His disapproval was obviously at least mostly false as he swirled the amber liquid in his glass while trying not to smile._

_“Oh shush,” Loki admonished, revelling in Stark’s near worshipful touch. “You can say nothing after all the lovers I’ve caught you with.”_

 

Loki groaned and let her head fall into her hands. She had gotten drunk and Thor had taken advantage of her lightened spirits to make up with her. Oh that was underhanded, sneaky and damn near despicable.

 

It was about damn time he learned.

 

“Is there a washroom I might use?” Loki asked, glad that she had managed to keep the unsure note from her voice as she spoke to the bodiless servant.

 

“Through the door to your right,” came back the prim and proper voice.

 

“Thank you,” she replied, brushing herself off before making her way across the bedroom and through the door indicated and ooh, that was where the money was.

 

There was a large claw foot tub, a frankly obscene shower, heated towel racks. It was almost ridiculous. Still, she wondered over to the sink to get a look at herself before considering anything else. By the Norns she looked awful. Her eyes were surrounded by a black crust of make up that for some reason she was sure had been removed the night before, the vague memory of Stark handing her something to take it off as Thor laughed and dodged the shoe she threw at him. Her eyes were red and she looked like she hadn’t slept at all, never mind over slept.

 

With a sigh, she shimmied out of her clothes and then set about to working out how the shower worked. A bath would have been preferable, but she wasn’t sure would have ever gotten out and showers were pleasant enough. It didn’t take her long to work things out and soon enough she had a cascade of wonderfully warm water drumming against her skin. The spray hitting her face made her feel a little more awake and stirred a few more memories from the night before.

 

Carrying Pepper back to the tower as Natasha babbled happily in Russian, tucking her into bed in the spies guest room and deciding on a drunken whim to give Stark his jacket back right then. Embarrassing Thor with the story of the time he had to wear a dress, then a green drink that was on fire and then, and then.

 

What in the name of the Norns was that liquid? Everything after it was a hazy dark blur of hints and brief glimpses. Trying not to think about it, Loki turned to the hygiene products on the shelf and set about the task of cleaning herself. She didn’t tarry, but she did pay extra attention to her face to try and scrape the remaining black sludge from around her eyes.

 

She quickly towelled herself dry and then bit her lip in indecision. The thought of resuming a male form flitted across her mind, but she brushed it off, not quite in the mood and most certainly not bored of this form yet. The coerced indulgence of femininity had been ridiculous and over the top, but it had left her wanting a more subtle taste. Well, why not? Perhaps it was would make Pepper lay off from further exploits of this sort is she showed how the Ladies of Asgard dressed. She could always teleport home as well, to avoid unwanted attention in the streets.

 

She ran her fingers through still damp hair and considered, wishing that it had grown out longer. Still, there was more than enough to work with.

 

“Jarvis, is it?” Loki said to the empty air, not even sure if the construct had a presence in the bathroom.

 

“Yes Miss Loki? How may help?”

 

“You said earlier that Stark was up and about? Could you please inform him that I’ll be out in about half an hour?”

 

* * *

 

“What do you think Loki would want for breakfast?” Tony asked, considering going and rummaging around in his kitchen for something that resembled actual food.

 

“There is a reasonable chance that she would rather not eat, Mister Stark,” the AI told him. Which, okay, yes Tony wasn’t exactly surprised by that. Perhaps mainlining absinth to the God had been a bad idea after all, but she had bet that he couldn’t get her properly drunk.

 

Tony wondered over to the window to look out over the city and sip at his coffee. He would usually have dozens of ideas buzzing about in his brain by now, but things were oddly quiet on that front. It was a nice change even if he usually revelled in keeping his mind as busy as possible. The sky was clouded over and grey, giving the morning, or what was left of it anyway, a murky feeling. It was days like this that he missed Malibu, but living here had it’s advantages. Still, at least he didn’t have to go anywhere today. Pepper had made sure his schedule was clear, along with her own. Most than likely so she didn’t have to deal with the added headache of managing him while hung over.

 

“I understand I need to thank you for your hospitality, Mister Stark,” came a familiar and teasing voice from behind. Tony turned around with a smile and suddenly he knew how Steve had felt last night.

 

Loki looked radiant. She wore a dress that wouldn’t look out of place at a renaissance fair, the fabric heavy but glossy and sweeping the floor. Primarily a dark green with black detail and complex looking fastenings, one sleeve looked to be black leather and serpents and wolves were picked out on the skirt in delicate golden stitching. The cut of the dress left Loki’s shoulders bare, along with the slender column of her throat. Her hair was up in twists and braids, adorned with crystal flowers and golden springs. She looked both delicate and deadly all at once, her posture proud where the day before it had been withdrawn. Her head up and her eyes shining with a tilted little smile on her lips.

 

“You are very welcome,” he managed to force out under Loki’s amused gaze. “Can I, erm, get you any breakfast or a drink?”

 

“I wouldn’t say no to coffee, but I’m not sure I could face food just yet,” she replied. “And I’d also like to know what happened to my stockings.”

 

“Oh, those are lovingly draped over the sofa,” he replied with a grin as he sauntered over to his bar. “How do you like your coffee?”

 

“Sweet and milky,” she replied, gracefully making her way towards him. He made her a latte as she watched curiously, drumming her fingers on the bar as she did. He dumped some sugar into the coffee and slid it towards her.

 

“Stark,” she began, wrapping her hand around the fancy glass cup. “There are some interesting blank spots in my memory of last night. I thought that perhaps you might help me make some sense of them.”

 

“Just how big are these blank spots?” Tony asked, fighting the urge to panic.

 

“I remember everything up to point where you gave me that green fiery drink perfectly clearly. After that things get a little fuzzy.”

 

“Absinth’ll do that,” he said with a sage nod. “So you don’t remember passing out on me then?” Loki stared at him, then blinked and then finally groaned into her coffee.

 

“Really?” Another nod.

 

“Yep. You said that you’d like to kiss me, pushed me against the wall, leaned in and then fell asleep on me.”

 

“That sounds like something I’d do,” she grumbled before taking a drink of her coffee. Then she eyed him somewhat suspiciously. “How did you get me into that bed? I’m assuming you didn’t put on your armour just so you could pick me up.” It was hard not to laugh at that.

 

“I didn’t. I did the stupid thing and tried to catch you, then I couldn’t get you off me.”

 

“You had to call Thor didn’t you?” He grinned and nodded. “I am never going to live that down.”

 

“Do you remember promising to spend some time with him? While sober?” That got him another groan.

 

“Did I put a time frame on that?”

 

“Sometime next week I think you said. It sounded an awful lot like an actual commitment,” Tony teased even as Loki flinched.

 

“I’ll be having words with him about this,” she grumbled, glaring into her coffee before taking a sip of it.

 

“I’m sure you’ll live. Thor on the other hand,” he trailed off.

 

“Oh shush,” Loki admonished, edging closer to playful again. “If I wanted Thor dead I would have poisoned him centuries ago.”

 

“I don’t think I’ve been happier to be an only child.” Loki rolled her eyes with a smile only for the expression to slowly slip off of her face.

 

She left her coffee where it sat and turned to the window. Tony watched her walk over to the glass, wondering what had caused the sudden shift in mood. She wrapped her arms around herself as she took in the view and Tony found himself slowly approaching her, unsure if he would be welcome or not.

 

“The view is much improved without the Chitari,” she said, a coldness to her voice that let him know this was her way of reminding them both who she was and what she had done. And no, she didn’t get to do that. She didn’t get to pull that trick. His tower had enough self loathing in it without adding Loki’s and he was pretty sure Bruce had trademarked that bullshit move anyway.

 

“That’s not the only way the view’s improved,” he added with as charming a grin as he could manage and the suggesting wiggle of his eyebrows. Loki shot him an unimpressed look that soon turned into an amused little snort and the shake of her head with a small smile.

 

“What are we doing?” she asked, looking to him with almost sad eyes.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean the flirting, the touches. All of it. I don’t know why you’re doing it.”

 

“Maybe I just like you,” he told her. “Not everything has to have an ulterior motive you know.”  Loki stared at him, her eyes going glossy with potential tears. She shook her head a little and her shoulders dropped. It was almost unnerving to watch, like the fight in her just drained away in an instant.

 

“You don’t want to get yourself into this,” she warned. “I’m selfish. I will take whatever I can get from you. But I’m not fit for this, for you. I balance on the edge of a blade with an abyss beneath me. Madness threatens to pull my one way, the teseract the other and even when I am at most stable I am still being cut.”

 

“We don’t have to be anything you know,” Tony said as gently as he could. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have. This was something he wanted to run away from, but Loki deserved better than that. Here she was trying to warn him off, the least he could do was try and be an adult about it. “It could just stay at flirting. If you’re not in the right headspace for anything more than that, that’s fine. You do what you need to do to keep treading water.

 

“But if you do want more than just flirting, even if it’s nothing serious, I’m right here. You feel like being selfish, you be selfish. I’m sure as hell not going complain. It’s not exactly selfless on my side either.”

 

He really hoped he hadn’t fucked that up. This wasn’t exactly something he was used to, but he hadn’t been imagining the chemistry, there was definitely an attraction there. One that was mutual from what Loki was saying.

 

He stopped worrying when he saw how Loki was looking at him. Earnest and longing, and yeah it could be a rouse but why would she bother?

 

“Well,” she began, her voice bordering on a low purr. “In that case I owe you a kiss. I suppose we could start there and then, well, we’ll see.”

 

“I think we might be able to manage that,” he replied, sliding his hand on her waist as Loki seemed to glide closer to him, looking him in a way that promised worlds and stars. Her hands came up next as his heart started to pound. One settling on his shoulder the other slipping around the back of his neck for her nails to comb through the short hairs there. They weren’t even pressed against each other but Tony felt like a virgin again. Full of nerves and anticipation in a way he hadn’t been in years.

 

He reached up with his free hand and carefully touched her cheek, forgetting that Loki was not delicate or breakable. Her skin was pleasantly cool against his palm and she leaned into the touch, shifting to place a brief kiss to his wrist before they moved almost as one to press their lips together.

 

It was a slow, unhurried kiss. Warm despite Loki’s cool skin, gentle despite both their harsh natures. They made no move to rush things, to tear off clothes, to scramble for a bed. This was a more lingering kiss than that.

 

Or it would have been if Thor hadn’t awkwardly cleared his throat from across the room.

 

Loki’s hands dropped away immediately and she turned to glare at her brother.

 

“Really Thor? Really? You couldn’t have waited for another five minutes?” she snapped. Thor held his hands up in mock surrender as Tony ran his hand over his face and fought the urge to set Jarvis on the God.

 

“Forgive me sister,” he replied with a smug smirk. “I merely wanted to say my farewells before going back to Asgard.”

 

“You’re leaving?” Loki asked, sounding more than a little startled.

 

“Only for the week,” Thor added with a shrug. “Father wants me to go to Nidavellir for some ceremony or other.”

 

“You’re visiting with the Dwar-”

 

“I know that look Loki, stop it.”

 

“I only meant that I need something picking up from there, and since I took the fall for a certain someone’s little joke and ended up getting my mouth sewn up and banished-”

 

“Alright,” Thor said with a flinch as Tony’s eyebrows raised/ “What is it?”

 

“I need a fire ruby that’s at least the size of an egg.”

 

“Loki!”

 

“I could go and get it myself,” she said with a little smirk as Thor levelled a glare at her.

 

“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “Though what you could need that for I’m not sure I want to know. May I use your balcony to depart?”

 

“Can I record the data from your trip?”

 

“Could I stop you?” Thor replied, clearly exasperated.

 

“Probably not. Feel free. Jarvis, get ready to get to work.”

 

“Of course sir.”

 

“Oh, Thor, one other thing before you depart.” Thor looked away from the door to the balcony and back to Loki, a cautious hope in his stupid Labrador puppy face. “You used my intoxication last night to emotionally manipulate me.”

 

So that was what Thor looked like when he was afraid. Tony had been wondering. Then his wondering was cut short as Loki rushed her brother and threw her arms around him.

 

“You’re learning! I am so proud of you.” Thor blinked in confused as Loki gave him one final squeeze before pulling back and looking at him like a proud parent. Tony was having a hard time not laughing at the look on his teammates face. “We’ll have you fit for court yet. Now if you don’t mind I need to go and make a lot of noise around a hung over assassin.” And with that Loki flickered out of existence, leaving both Tony and Thor highly confused in her wake.

 

Thor sighed, shook his head and then clasped the back of Tony’s neck, pulling him in uncomfortably close.

 

“I wish you luck with my sister,” the God said. “You’ll need much of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow this chapter fought me every step of the way. Add to that how busy I've been and you have one very late chapter.
> 
> Partly I've been busy getting my first book up on Amazon. It's a ghost story about a sort of reformed serial killer being haunted by the ghosts of her victims while dealing with her neighbour, Jenny. It's called Vengeance of the Dead. There's a full summery and link to the Amazon page on the tumblr link below. I'd post the link directly but I'm not sure if that's allowed on this site.
> 
> http://ninasnon-sense.tumblr.com/post/121049917736/vengeance-of-the-dead-ebook-nina-white

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading ^.^ Please leave a comment so I know what I'm doing right.


End file.
